The perception of shared governance among nurses at Dar Al Shifa Hospital in Kuwait in 2024

Background: Shared governance empowers nurses by allowing them to participate in decision-making and be accountable for their professional practices. Involving nurses in decision-making creates a positive workplace culture. Therefore, our objective was to assess the perception of shared governance among nurses working at Dar Al Shifa Hospital in Kuwait. Methods: The study employed a descriptive design and recruited 454 participants utilizing a convenient sampling technique. Data were collected between March 2024 and May 2024 through an online self-administered questionnaire, using the Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG 3.0). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post-hoc analysis, and the independent sample t-test. Results: Findings showed that nurses at Dar Al Shifa Hospital perceived the first level of shared governance in their working environment (Mean±SD: 100.31±25.01). All IPNG subscales indicated shared governance levels except for the personnel and participation subscales. The results revealed no statistically significant differences between registered nurses and nurse managers regarding the level of shared governance (P = 0.231). In addition, there were no statistically significant differences between the nurses' sociodemographic data and the level of shared governance except for the years of experience in Dar Al Shifa Hospital (P = 0.044). Conclusion: The results showed that the nurses perceived the first level of shared governance range in their working environment, indicating that decisions were made primarily by the nursing administration with some staff input. Therefore, implementing a shared governance model, continuous education, and training could improve the nurses' perception of shared governance.