The Structural Framework for Nursing Professional Governance: Foundation for Empowerment

The structural framework for nursing professional governance is foundational to cultivating nursing professional behaviors and practice that improve the work environment and positively impact nursing, patient, and organizational outcomes. Clarifying and codifying this structural framework, as well as the purposes of professional governance, illuminates foundational elements integral to creating an empowering culture, with an emphasis upon nursing accountability, autonomy, authority, and self-direction. The Structural Professional Governance Self-assessment Survey (SPGS - A) addresses structural requisites needed to support and advance the behavioral attributes of professional governance: accountability, Professional obligation, collateral relationships, and effective decision making.