The Relationship between Nurses\u27 Work Environment and Patient Satisfaction

Background: Patient satisfaction has become an area of interest among health care organizations since the early 2000s when Crossing the Quality Chasm identified patient-centered care as one of the six areas in need of improvement within the U.S health care system (Institute of Medicine, 2001). As a result of this report, hospitals are reimbursed based on patient satisfaction. Hospitals with low satisfaction scores are at risk of losing $500,000 to $850,000 annually. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between nurses’ perception of their work environment and patient satisfaction in a sample of nurses in Upstate New York. Methods: A sample of nurses’ in Western New York was obtained through the Genesee Valley Nurses’ Association (GVNA). The survey completed by the nurses was composed of demographic questions; the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI), which is used to evaluate perception of nurses’ work environment; and questions to assess perception of patient satisfaction on their unit. Results: Nurses who perceived that they always listened carefully when speaking with patients were more likely to have a higher perception of their quality of care, along with a better perception of their participation in hospital affairs. In addition, nurses who would definitely or probably recommend their unit to family and friends had a positive perception on three of the five PES-NWI subscales. Finally, nurses who always listen carefully when speaking with patients and those that would definitely recommend their unit had a higher perception of their overall work environment as evaluated by the PES-NWI. Conclusion: Nurses’ with a more favorable perception of patient satisfaction on their unit were more likely to have a better perception of four of the five PES-NWI subscales. The only subscale that showed no difference between patient satisfaction and work environment was nurse-physician relationships. Therefore, if hospitals in Western New York are aiming to improve their patient satisfaction, focus should be placed on improving nurses’ participation in hospital affairs, quality of nursing care, quality of nurse managers, and improving staffing and resource adequacy