Shared Decision Making

At UCSF, we embrace the sharing of ideas and recognize the power of many voices. Our shared decision-making model is an integrated council structure that brings nurses at all levels together to focus on continually improving patient and nursing care outcomes, resulting in the delivery of the highest quality of care. Councils are established at the medical center-wide or core level, peer or population-specific level, and unit-specific level.

Coordinating Council

The purpose of this council is to provide an overall structure and framework for the shared decision-making process of the Department of Nursing. 

The structure provides a forum to empower nursing in this process by creating four core councils, which are described below, with oversight from the Coordinating Council. 

The councils are designed to support shared decision-making, encourage the exchange of ideas, provide methods of researching solutions to issues in nursing practice, and improve communication for nursing staff at every level of the organization. Each council domain represents, where appropriate, nurses from all provider levels, all units or divisions of units, and associated colleagues from other disciplines or departments. 

Overarching Council

  • Coordinating Council/Nursing Leadership Group

Core Councils

Peer Councils

Population-specific Peer Councils compliment and parallel the core structure.

  • Ambulatory Council
  • Nurse Resident Council

Unit Councils

There are more than 100 unit-based councils that support shared decision-making on patient and advanced clinical care issues. Led by direct care nurses, Patient Care Managers or Clinical Nurse Specialists may serve as coaches for these councils. Our Shared Decision-Making model has been a key, formal structure to ensure nurses have a voice in a broad array of clinical and organizational decisions.