The study by Mastal, Joshi, and Schulke (2007) reports that chief nursing officers (CNOs) need to be provided with an opportunity not only to play a key leadership role in closing the knowledge gaps and reshaping values about quality and patient safety in the boardroom, but also to apply leadership expertise in the transformation of board member’s values, beliefs, and behaviors related to quality health care services and patient safety.
Additionally, hospitals to adopt inclusive leadership practices and consistently invite CNOs to all board meetings because CNOs can use “their knowledge base to enlighten board members specifically about relevant measures of nursing quality and patient safety” (Mastal et al., 2007, p. 328). As suggested by Wong, Laschinger, Cummings, Vincent, and O’Connor (2010), chief executive officers (CEOs) are not in a position to distinguish professional practice decisions from operational ones to the same level as CNOs, hence the need to involve the latter in making decisions due to their knowledge and expertise in healthcare settings.
References
Mastal, M.F., Joshi, M., & Schulke, K. (2007). Nursing leadership: Championing quality and patient safety in the boardroom. Nursing Economic$, 25(6), 323-330. Web.
Wong, C.A., Laschinger, H., Cummings, G.G., Vincent, L., & O’Connor, P. (2010). Decisional involvement of senior nurse leaders in Canadian acute care hospitals. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(2), 122-133. Web.