A Phenomenological Study of the Shared Governance Experience for Nurses Working in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Healthcare has evolved over the past 30 years in response to exciting and tumultuous changes. Challenges encompassed innovative strategies to improve patient safety outcomes while facilitating a shared governance platform that resulted in best practice, enhanced job satisfaction, and improved patient outcomes. Nurses comprise the largest and fastest growing segment of healthcare occupations. A significant number of nurses have successfully transitioned into roles within the pharmaceutical industry to protect vulnerable patients. As a core value of nursing practice, the existence of shared governance or the change in the experience for nurses who had made this transition affects the nursing profession and the well-being of patients in clinical trials. The problem addressed is the vulnerability of patients in clinical trials whose well-being is at risk due to unexpected adverse events experienced during experimental therapies. The purpose of this qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis study was to explore and comprehend the essence and meaning of shared governance and to understand how shared governance affected nursing practice, patient safety outcomes, and patient vulnerability during clinical trials, as well as organizational health through the experiences of nurses working within the pharmaceutical industry. A purposeful sample of 10 nurses explored the shared governance experience from the perspective of these nurse participants. The findings supported the significance of shared governance paradigms for nurses working in the pharmaceutical industry. Implications for nursing leaders included support of transformational leadership styles that engaged the professional nursing staff in the development and implementation of shared governance as part of core nursing values and strong organizational commitment.