Nurse work environments are important for patients too
A substantial body of international research shows that inadequate nurse work environments are associated with poor patient outcomes. We surveyed large numbers of nurses and patients in 210 hospitals in 8 countries in Europe and 430 hospitals in the USA asking whether they would recommend their hospitals. Nurses based their assessments largely on the quality of the nurse work environment and staffing adequacy. Nurses and patients were in remarkably close agreement on which hospitals were good places to work and to get care. Indeed, we found that patient to nurse staffing ratios and nurses’ assessments of the quality of nurse work environment were significant predictors of patients’ global assessments of hospitals including patients’ overall hospital ratings and whether they would recommend the hospital to a family member or friend who needed hospital care [3]. Thus, work environment features that result in job dissatisfaction, burnout, and intent to leave among nurses are also associated with lower patient satisfaction with their care.