In a country facing a nursing shortage and healthcare cuts, a recent survey published by Health Care Management Review finds a link between nurses who rate the quality of their physical work environment high with a higher rating for the quality of patient care.
The survey, conducted by Maja Djukic of the New York University College of Nursing in New York City and colleagues, and written up in MedPage Today, also found that when nurses see greater organizational constraints they are less likely to rate the quality of patient care high.
“The impact of [nurse] staffing on patient care quality has been extensively studied,” wrote the authors. “Identifying additional modifiable work environment factors linked to patient care quality is critical as the projected shortage of approximately 250,000 [nurses] over the next 15 years limits institution’s ability to rely on staffing alone to ensure high-quality care.”
That conclusion is likely to be received with mixed feelings by hospitals and nurses. One of the motivational factors that nearly drove a union representing 12,800 Minnesota nurses to strike this year was the ratio of patients to nurses was so high union representatives said it was causing nurses to be stretched too thin and allegedly jeopardizing patient care. The hospitals balked at higher numbers, arguing it would undermine their finances and, more importantly, they argued staffing ratios do little to enhance patient safety.
On the other hand, the survey could make for recommended reading for hospital administrators seeking to address simmering labor disputes by nursing unions in other parts of the country such as California, where cutbacks in healthcare costs led to the state’s nursing association and National Nurses Association to stage a one-day strike in September. The issues they cited ranged from cuts in patient care services to restricting their ability to effectively advocate for patients, all of which arguably contribute to the quality of the environment.
