This raises the question of defining the ‘work environment’ and more importantly, determining which aspects of the work environment seem to have the biggest influence on staff
retention. At the broadest level, the ‘work environment’ refers to ‘the tone of any workplace’ (Christmas 2008,p. 316). However, as Christmas notes, it is influenced by a wide variety of different factors, including the role of management, peer relations, patient acuity, availability of equipment and the physical environment (Christmas 2008).