JONA Volume 43, Number 11, pp 566-573 Copyright B 2013 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins THE JOURNAL OF NURSING ADMINISTRATION Structural Empowerment and the Nursing Practice Environment in Magnet A Organizations Joanne T. Clavelle, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE Tim Porter O’Grady, DM, EdD, APRN, NEA-BC, FAAN Karen Drenkard, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of shared governance and its rela- tionship with nursing practice environments in Magnet A organizations. BACKGROUND: Structural empowerment is a core Magnet model component illustrated through shared governance. A paucity of literature exists describing it and its relationship to the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations. METHODS: E-mail surveys of Magnet chief nursing officers and leaders of their organization’s nursing prac- tice council were conducted using the Index of Profes- sional Nursing Governance (IPNG) and the nursing Work IndexYRevised (NWI-R). RESULTS: In Magnet organizations, the primary gov- ernance distribution is shared governance, with most subscales in the IPNG within the shared governance range. Total and subscale scores on the NWI-R ranged from 1.35 to 1.48, with significant, positive correla- tion between total IPNG score and total NWI-R score (r = 0.416, P G .001), as well as the NWI-R and IPNG subscales. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new evidence that demonstrates the positive relationship between shared governance and the nursing practice environ- ment in Magnet organizations. Chief nursing officers (CNOs) have senior-level or- ganizational authority for creating a dynamic nursing practice environment (NPE) through nursing shared governance (SG). 1-3 The American Nurse’s Credentia- ling Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program A places considerable emphasis upon the role of the CNO as transformational leader supporting a flat, flexible, and decentralized organization in the model component of structural empowerment. 4,5 Recent ev- idence identifies ‘‘enabling others to act’’ as the top transformational leadership practice of Magnet A CNOs. 6 There is little recent literature regarding the character- istics of SG in Magnet organizations and relationship to the NPE. Review of the Literature Kanter’s 7 theory of structural determinants of power outlines how work structures empower employees by improving access to information, support, resources, and the opportunity to learn and develop. In Magnet organizations, the implementation of SG is a com- mon work structure implemented to support nursing professional engagement, role development, profes- sional development, recognition, and community involvement. 4,8-11 The concept of SG originated more than 30 years ago, with Porter O’Grady and Finnegan describing a nonhierarchical organizational structure for nursing and organizational interdependence. 12,13 This ‘‘point of service empowerment’’ 13(p87) creates a ‘‘structural ‘‘glue’’ that enables the profession of nursing to come together in both purpose and discipline, 14(p45) bal- ancing power between management and staff. Within 566 JONA  Vol. 43, No. 11  November 2013 Author Affiliations: Senior Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer (Dr Clavelle), Scottsdale Healthcare, Arizona; Senior Partner (Dr Porter-O’Grady), Tim Porter-O’Grady Associates, Atlanta, Georgia; Executive Director (Dr Drenkard), American Nurses Credentialing Center, Silver Springs, Maryland. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Dr Clavelle, Scottsdale Healthcare, 9003 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 (jclavelle@shc.org). DOI: 10.1097/01.NNA.0000434512.81997.3f Copyright © 2013 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.