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The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) has been utilized for two decades globally to measure nurse work environments. Its 31 items in five domains present a substantial respondent burden, threatening survey response rates. The purpose of this study was to derive and validate a short form: the PES-5. We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of survey data from nurses in 760 hospitals in six U.S. states in 2016 or 2019. One representative item per subscale was selected by highest item-to-subscale R 2 from the original PES-NWI publication. Five psychometric properties of the PES-5 were evaluated. The reproduced structure of the full form was confirmed in the 2016 data by the highest R 2 for the selected items. The unidimensional structure of the PES-5 was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis. The correlation between the composite values of the 28-item and 5-item versions was 0.94. The Cronbach's alpha reliability of the PES-5 was >0.80. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 1, k), which evaluates the stability of aggregated values when data are clustered, i.e., nurses are nested within hospitals, was >0.80 in both datasets, demonstrating satisfactory aggregate properties. Construct validity was supported by the selected items being ranked highly in their respective subscales by an expert panel. Criterion validity was supported by an analysis of variance of the PES-5 mean value across responses to a single-item work environment measure. Similar patterns of relationships with other key variables were identified by statistically significant odds ratios in regression models predicting patient mortality from the PES-5. The classification accuracy of the PES-5 was high, with 88% of hospitals classified identically by both versions. The PES-5 shows promise for measurement of nurses' work environments while maximizing response rate by reducing participant burden., (© 2024 The Authors. Research in Nursing & Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Introduction: International evidence shows that nurses' work environments affect patient outcomes, including their care experiences. In Chile, several factors negatively affect the work environment, but they have not been addressed in prior research. The aim of this study was to measure the quality of the nurse work environment in Chilean hospitals and its association with patient experience., Design: A cross-sectional study of 40 adult general high-complexity hospitals across Chile., Methods: Participants included bedside nurses (n = 1632) and patients (n = 2017) in medical or surgical wards, who responded to a survey. The work environment was measured through the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index. Hospitals were categorized as having a good or poor work environment. A set of patient experience outcomes were measured through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to test associations between the environment and patient experiences., Results: For all outcomes, the percentage of patients satisfied was higher in hospitals with good as compared to poor work environments. In good environment hospitals patients had significantly higher odds of being satisfied with communication with nurses (OR 1.46, 95% CI: 1.10-1.94, p = 0.010), with pain control (OR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.14-2.02, p = 0.004), and with nurses' timely responses in helping them to go to the bathroom (OR 2.17, 95% CI: 1.49-3.16, p < 0.0001)., Conclusions: Hospitals with good environments outperform hospitals with poor environments in most patient care experience indicators. Efforts to improve nurses' work environment hold promise for improving patient experiences in Chilean hospitals., Clinical Relevance: Hospital administrators and nurse managers should value, especially in the context of financial constraints and understaffing, the implementation of strategies to improve the quality of nurses´ work environments so that they can provide patients with a better care experience., (© 2023 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

In this study, we examined the influence of professional network characteristics, available professional support, and perceived support quality on intent to stay among for-profit nursing home (NH) directors of nursing (DON). We hypothesized that the receipt of high quality professional support would be associated with DON intent to stay. DONs have a critical mandate to provide leadership that influences their facilities' work climate and care quality. Yet, they often struggle to manage overwhelming responsibilities and are left feeling alienated, frustrated, and intent on leaving their jobs. Professional support, accessed via professional networks, may help DONs combat frustration and mitigate turnover that threatens NH care quality. Using a descriptive survey design, we electronically surveyed all DONs employed by a single for-profit NH corporation to collect data pertaining to their professional networks, receipt of professional support, perceptions regarding support quality, and intentions to stay in their positions. One-hundred-ninety-five DONs (65%) responded, with 133 (44%) completing every survey component. We employed social network analysis methods to construct datasets linking descriptors of DON respondents with attribute information about 1,164 network members. Statistical analyses (ANOVAs, point biserial correlations, and binomial logistic regression) yielded several findings supporting our hypothesis: (i) DONs' professional networks closely resembled the teams in which they worked daily; (ii) DONs relied on this core network of individuals to provide task support primarily; (iii) DON-nursing home administrator relationships were most important; and (iv) perceptions of support quality and support from nursing home administrators were the strongest predictors of DON intent to stay., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a setting with high nurse-to-patient ratios. Little is known about the factors that determine nurse workload and assignment. The goals of this study were to (1) develop a measure of NICU infant acuity; (2) describe the acuity distribution of NICU infants; (3) describe the nurse/infant ratio at each acuity level, and examine the factors other than acuity, including nurse qualifications and the availability of physicians and other providers, that determined staffing ratios; and (4) explore whether nurse qualifications were related to the acuity of assigned infants. In a two-stage cohort study, data were collected in 104 NICUs in 2008 by nurse survey (6,038 nurses and 15,191 infants assigned to them) and administrators reported on unit-level staffing of non-nurse providers; in a subset of 70 NICUs in 2009-2010, census data were collected on four selected shifts (3,871 nurses and 9,276 infants assigned to them). Most NICU infants (62%) were low-acuity (Levels 1 and 2); 12% of infants were high-acuity (Levels 4 and 5). The nurse-to-infant ratio ranged from 0.33 for the lowest-acuity infants to 0.95 for the highest-acuity infants. The staffing ratio was significantly related to the acuity of assigned infants but not to nurse education, experience, certification, or availability of other providers. There was a significant but small difference in the percentage of high-acuity (Levels 4 and 5) infants assigned to nurses with specialty certification (15% vs. 12% for nurses without certification). These staffing patterns may not optimize patient outcomes in this highly intensive pediatric care setting., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The relationships between hospital Magnet® status, nursing unit staffing, and patient falls were examined in a cross-sectional study using 2004 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®) data from 5,388 units in 108 Magnet and 528 non-Magnet hospitals. In multivariate models, the fall rate was 5% lower in Magnet than non-Magnet hospitals. An additional registered nurse (RN) hour per patient day was associated with a 3% lower fall rate in ICUs. An additional licensed practical nurse (LPN) or nursing assistant (NA) hour was associated with a 2-4% higher fall rate in non-ICUs. Patient safety may be improved by creating environments consistent with Magnet hospital standards., (© 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 33:413-425, 2010.)

Clinical nursing expertise is central to quality patient care. Research on factors that contribute to expertise has focused largely on individual nurse characteristics to the exclusion of contextual factors. To address this, we examined effects of hospital contextual factors and individual nurse education and experience on clinical nursing expertise in a cross-sectional analysis of data from 8,611 registered nurses. In a generalized ordered logistic regression analysis, the composition of the hospital staff, particularly the proportion of nurses with at least a bachelor of science in nursing degree, was associated with significantly greater odds of a nurse reporting a more advanced expertise level. Our findings suggest that, controlling for individual characteristics, the hospital context significantly influences clinical nursing expertise., (2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and several single-item measures were administered to registered nurses (RNs) working within 23 U.S.-based Army Medical Department (AMEDD) hospitals. Data were analyzed with logistic regression for nested data. Unfavorable nursing practice environments had a substantial association with job dissatisfaction (OR 13.75, p < .01), emotional exhaustion (OR 12.70, p < .01), intent to leave (OR 3.03, p < .01), and fair to poor quality of care (OR 10.66, p < .01). This study provides the first system-wide analyses of nursing practice environments in AMEDD hospitals in the U.S. Similar to findings in civilian samples, poor quality work environments are associated with less favorable RN work outcomes and quality of care ratings., ((c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Better patient outcomes are often achieved through effective surveillance, a primary function of nurses. The purpose of this article is to define, operationalize, measure, and evaluate the nurse surveillance capacity of hospitals. Nurse surveillance capacity is defined as the organizational features that enhance or weaken nurse surveillance. It includes a set of registered nurse (staffing, education, expertise, experience) and nurse practice environment characteristics. Empirical referents were extracted from existing survey data from 9,232 nurses in 174 hospitals. Using a ranking methodology, a Hospital Nurse Surveillance Capacity Profile was created for each hospital. Greater nurse surveillance capacity was significantly associated with better quality of care and fewer adverse events. The profile may assist administrators to improve nurse surveillance and patient outcomes.

The Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R) is a widely used instrument for evaluating registered nurses' (RNs) practice environments. The existence of multiple subscale sets from the NWI-R raises questions about its generalizability. We tested the validity of the one-, three-, and five-subscale sets from the NWI-R and derived a short-form subscale set using a sample of RNs from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The prior sets do not have an excellent fit to these data. Results of exploratory factor analyses suggested a four-factor model with Opportunity for Advancement, Collegial Nurse-Physician Relations, Staffing Adequacy, and Nurse Manager Leadership as the most salient and parsimonious solution. Additional research is needed to corroborate these findings in other nurse samples and settings.

Five subscales were derived from the Nursing Work Index (NWI) to measure the hospital nursing practice environment, using 1985-1986 nurse data from 16 magnet hospitals. The NWI comprises organizational characteristics of the original magnet hospitals. The psychometric properties of the subscales and a composite measure were established. All measures were highly reliable at the nurse and hospital levels. Construct validity was supported by higher scores of nurses in magnet versus nonmagnet hospitals. Confirmatory analyses of contemporary data from 11,636 Pennsylvania nurses supported the subscales. The soundness of the new measures is supported by their theoretical and empirical foundations, conceptual integrity, psychometric strength, and generalizability. The measures could be used to study how the practice environment influences nurse and patient outcomes., (Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)