Influence of nurses' work environment on their self-evaluation of nursing work

Abstract

This study examined nurses' self-evaluation of their nursing work, determined whether there were variations in these self-evaluations, and explored how work environment factors influence them. Data were collected using a large-scale survey (31,657 objects). We extracted the essential principal components from the data on self-evaluation of nursing work and identified differences in principal component scores among workplace classifications and age groups. We also evaluated the relationships between scores for selfevaluation of nursing work and work environment factors using multiple regression models. Work environment factors significantly affected nurses' intention to separate from employment (adjusted R2 = 0.230) but exerted weaker effects on adequate nursing provision (adjusted R2 = 0.028) and sense of fulfillment in nursing work (adjusted R2 = 0.042). Both individual work environments (external factors) and nurses' personal attributes (internal factors) should be considered major targets in implementing countermeasures for nurse turnover. Among the external factors, reduction of workload and organizational eradication of power harassment specifically demonstrated relationships with a sense of fulfillment in nursing work, and may act as additional countermeasures for nurse turnover.