The power of professional nursing practice--an essential element of patient and family centered care.

Full Abstract

Understanding power and learning how to use it is critical if nurses' efforts to shape their practice and work environments are to be successful. As part of our efforts to develop a Fast-Track BSN-to-PhD nursing program, we met with nurse leaders from six organizations to explore what power means, how nurses acquire it, and how they demonstrate it in their practice. Through these discussions, we identified eight characteristics of powerful nursing practice that, together, form a framework that can guide nurses' efforts to develop a powerful practice and shape the health care delivery settings and academic institutions in which they work. In this article we review recent studies of organizational power and share discussions which helped us better understand nursing power and the ways in which it is manifested. We also reflect on what power means for individual nurses and the profession and discuss how our insights influenced our Fast-Track program.

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Author information

Author/s: Reid Ponte, Pat (P); Glazer, Greer (G); Dann, Emma (E); McCollum, Kathleen (K); Gross, Anne (A); Tyrrell, Rosalie (R); Branowicki, Patricia (P); Noga, Patricia (P); Winfrey, Marion (M); Cooley, Mary (M); Saint-Eloi, Suzelle (S); Hayes, Carolyn (C); Nicolas, Patrice K (PK); Washington, Deborah (D);

Affiliation: Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA. Pat_Reid_Ponte(-atsign-)dfci.harvard.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Online journal of issues in nursing (Online J Issues Nurs), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-; vol 12 (issue 1) : pp 4

Dates: Created 2007/03/02; Completed 2007/04/20;

PMID: 17330986, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Education, Nursing, Graduate - methods
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Leadership
Massachusetts
Mentors

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