The Impact of Professional Governance on Hope, Resilience, and Empowerment

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this cross-sectional descriptive study was to examine the relationship of professional governance, resilience, and empowerment among RNs in clinical practice in 1 healthcare system.BACKGROUNDGiven the emotional and physical demands of nursing, especially in recent years, exploring ways that hope-inducing and resilience-building models can support professional practice is vital to the current and future nursing workforce.METHODSAn anonymous survey consisting of demographic questions, the Adult Hope Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II was offered to 1450 RNs in a nonprofit community-based healthcare system for volunteer participation.RESULTSNurses who formally participated in professional governance nursing councils reported higher hope, resilience, and work effectiveness scores compared with nurses who did not participate in professional governance.CONCLUSIONSBased on these initial results, encouraging and creating avenues for the participation of RNs in professional governance are paramount to build a resilient, hopeful, and empowered workforce.