Professional governance in Finnish nursing – measured by the Index of Professional Nursing Governance

Abstract

To translate and validate the Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) 2.0 and assess the state of professional nursing governance in Finland. Background: Raising and maintaining quality of care while retaining staff are common problems in healthcare globally. Professional governance is a modern way to tackle them, but a reliable instrument is needed to measure the state of nursing governance in Finland, and elsewhere. Methods: The IPNG that was translated into Finnish by forward-backward translation, culturally adapted and pilot tested with 20 nurses. A sample of 419 nurses was utilised in a cross-sectional study to assess the state of professional governance in Finland 2018. Results: Principal component analysis yielded six components with good Cronbach's α values. The results clearly indicate that the IPNG version developed and evaluated in this study has suitable psychometric properties for use in Finnish healthcare settings. The validated IPNG scores indicate that nursing governance in Finland is in the professional governance range. The staff have some input in the governance of Finnish healthcare organisations. However, this perception is strongest among the nurse leaders and experts; other groups do not perceive much change yet. Conclusion: Participants, particularly nurse leaders in Finland, had self-reported impact in decision-making. The translated IPNG has acceptable internal consistency and can be used to assess healthcare organisations' governance models in Finland and broader in Nordic countries and Europe.

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