A Quality of Nursing Work Life
Framework
Further synthesis and reconceptualization
resulted in the proposed
framework for QNWL (see
Table 3) (Brooks, 2001). Quality of
nursing work life is the degree to
which registered nurses are able to
satisfy important personal needs
through their experiences in their
work organization while achieving
the organization’s goals
(Brooks, 2001). The four dimensions
are further defined by a synthesis
of referents from prior work
in STS, the QWL, and QNWL.
The first is termed the work
life-home life dimension or the
interface between the nurses’
work and home life. Since nurses
are primarily female, this dimension
reflects the role of mother
(child care), daughter (elderly parent
care), and spouse (family
needs, available energy). The work
design dimension is the composition
of nursing work, or the actual
work nurses do. Here are items
that define nurses’ immediate
work environment such as workload,
staffing, and autonomy. The
practice settings in which nurses