Shared Governance: the Role of Buy-in in Bringing about Change

The term buy-in can be found in almost any article considering individuals’ participation in an initiative. At the time of this writing, a Google search of buy-in resulted in 10.5 billion hits. The term buy-in seems intuitive, yet many healthcare organizations struggle to implement and sustain initiatives that depend on nursing buy-in and involvement. The purpose of this article is to identify prerequisites to buy-in and factors that facilitate buy-in which, when cultivated, may positively influence nurse engagement. In this article, the authors discuss the concept of buy-in, identify prerequisites for buy-in, consider factors to enhance buy-in, and present scenarios of what happens when buy-in happens, when it almost happens, and when it fails. They also consider future directions to facilitate buy-in by nursing staff members.