E.M.P.O.W.E.R. Professional Governance Council (Enhancing and Making Patients’ Outcomes Worthwhile by providing Extraordinary care, every patient, every time, through Research and Evidence‑Based Practice)

KP Fremont Medical Center has a professional governance structure that engages clinical nurses to be part of the shared decision-making process. It empowers nurses to identify areas of opportunities and improve patient outcomes utilizing evidence-based practice. Professional governance fosters nurse-led patient advocacy through quality, safety, and care experience as the primary drivers in alignment with the KP mission, vision, and values to provide extraordinary nursing care, every patient, every time. Through collaborative practice, nurses engage with interprofessional team members in decision-making to improve the health of our patients and the communities we serve.

E.M.P.O.W.E.R. is made up of 5 core councils: Quality and Safety, Care Experience, Research and Evidence-based Practice, Professional Growth and Development, and Informatics. The unit council is represented by Medical Surgical and Telemetry Units, Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Coordination of Care, Medical Psychiatric Unit, Perioperative Services, Ambulatory Surgery Department, Gastroenterology Department, and Interventional Radiology/Cardiac Cath Lab Department. Each council is led by a clinical nurse chair, chair-elect, and an advisor.

The E.M.P.O.W.E.R. professional governance meets monthly with the day consists of 4-hour professional leadership development followed by two hours of Core Council meetings and two hours of Unit Based Council meetings.

Several E.M.P.O.W.E.R. ambassadors proudly showcased their evidence-based practice projects at the Research Innovation Academy conference on May 14–15, 2025, highlighting their commitment to advancing nursing excellence, promoting innovative solutions, and sharing meaningful clinical improvements with a broader audience.