Inova Loudoun Hospital shared governance
Inova Loudoun Hospital’s shared governance structure consists of five councils. These councils meet each month and are led by members of our clinical nursing team. The councils are the decision-making bodies in which our clinical nurses participate to determine goals, process improvement and other patient care and professional practice objectives. These initiatives are then brought back and shared with our patient care units through established unit based councils (UBCs).
The UBCs provide an additional decision-making resource at the unit level, encouraging all clinical nurses to participate in improving and developing their professional practice. The five Inova Loudoun Hospital shared governance councils have specific areas of focus:
The clinical excellence and patient satisfaction council analyzes and disseminates quality data and indicators, process and policy feedback and improvement, and UPC briefings.
The professional development council promotes professional growth, education and development.
The care site council communicates and coordinates the work of the councils that report on a rotating basis, as do all nursing units and departments in the organization. It also communicates and coordinates the dissemination of information from the Inova Health System Nursing Congress and provides oversight for all local shared governance activities.
The night council’s overall goal is to support patient care on the night shift, to promote the job satisfaction of nurses who work on night shift and to improve the nurse practice environment. It is composed of representatives from all practice areas throughout the organization.
The research and evidence-based practice council supports and facilitates the initiatives of Inova Loudoun Hospital nurses who are undertaking evidence-based projects and research.
2024 Shared governance highlights
Clinical excellence and patient satisfaction council
During the clinical excellence and patient satisfaction council meetings, clinical nurses review and evaluate nursing quality data to maintain and improve quality patient outcomes. We continue to strive for excellence by keeping our patients safe during their stays.
- The majority of our units exceeded the Magnet mean for falls with injury, hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI), central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)
- 67% decrease in HAPI for 2024*
- 60% decrease in CAUTIs for 2024*
- 50% decrease in CLABSIs for 2024*
*Compared to 2023
Professional development council
Our professional practice council hosted its fifth annual Innovation in Healthcare Conference. The 2024 conference offered presentations and panel discussions on nursing ethics and legalities. This year’s conference aimed to identify and address the evolving challenges that many nurses encounter in their clinical practice. In addition, this council coordinates and manages both our nursing and support team recognition programs, the DAISY Award and the PEACH Award.
Members continue to promote professional practice opportunities including certification, advanced degrees and participation in the ADVANCE Clinical Ladder:
- In 2024, 134 nurses began their journey on the ADVANCE Clinical Ladder as RN2s, and 40 nurses climbed the ladder to become RN3s.
- Four nurses earned their RN4 designation, and 23 gained their RN5s.
- The hospital currently has over 201 nurses participating in the ADVANCE program, which is a 145% increase over 2023.
- 59 nurses became newly certified (54% certification rate).
- 71 nurses obtained their BSN and eight received their MSN (86% BSN or higher certification rate).