The Relationship Between the Nurses’ Perception of the Practice Environment and Patients’ Satisfaction

Nurses’ practice environments contribute to patient satisfaction. The practice environment is influenced by work design, workforce development, organizational management practices, and culture. Each of these influential factors is significant to how patients perceive how their treatment as a person and their nursing care. The purpose of this study was to examine the nurse practice environment and determine its impact on patients’ satisfaction with care during hospitalization. The objective was to analyze the collected data and use it to gain insight and heighten awareness of how various aspects of the nurse practice environment directly and indirectly impact the patient experience. A demographics form and the Practice Environment Scale of the –Nursing Work Index was electronically sent to participants at a large acute care facility in the Southeast United States. The patient satisfaction data was retrospective in nature and obtained from the Press Ganey Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provides and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22.0. The sample size for this research study was 54. Demographic data indicated that the majority of study participants worked in Critical Care (n=21, 38.9%) and Women’s Services (n=13, 24.1%). Of the other units surveyed, responses were as follows: Medical-Surgical (n=9, 16.7%), Behavioral Health (n=8, 14.8%), Surgical Services (n=2, 3.7%) and the Emergency Department (n=1, 1.9%). Years of experience ranged from less than one year to greater than ten years; participants had an average of 3.24 years of nursing experience. The average time on the unit types surveyed was 2.5 years. The mean score for the PES-NWI was 2.88, with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.930. (SD= 12.2). The scores for each of the subscales were as follows: Nurse participation in hospital affairs α= 0.863, M= 2.83 (SD= 4.73); Nursing foundations for quality of care α= 0.779, M= 3.01 (SD= 3.69); Nursing manager ability, leadership, and support of nurses α= 0.861, M= 2.97 (SD= 3.03); Staffing and resource adequacy α= 0.832, M= 2.33 (SD= 2.42); Collegial nurse-physician relationships α= 0.839, M= 3.19 (SD= 1.44). The overall hospital patient satisfaction score for likelihood to recommend the hospital was 71.1 for the third quarter, meaning that 71.1% of the patients completing the survey would definitely recommend the facility to others. Of the units surveyed, the scores for likelihood to recommend were as follows: Behavioral health 48.1 (n= 239), Critical Care 85.7 (n= 14), Emergency Department 50.6 (n= 555), Medical-Surgical 70.6, (n= 119), Surgical Services 62.7 (n= 51), and Women’s Services 73.3 (n= 15). Findings from this study revealed that nurses feel supported by and trust the ability of their managers, perceive good working relationships with physicians, and do have an opportunity to grow and participate in hospital affairs. Nurses, however, do not feel positively perceive the adequacy of staffing and other resources. Patients report nurses to be courteous, helpful, and attentive. Patients did not report being very satisfied with pain management