CLINICAL PLENARY: Healthy Work Environments: Evidence and Strategies

Description/Overview: In the last decade, healthy work environments have been the focus of many organizations and associations such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) (Forces of Magnetism), the American Association of Critical-Care Nursing (AACN) (Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments), the Nursing Organizations Alliance (NOA) (Nine Principles and Elements of a Healthful Practice/Work Environment), the Institute of Medicine, the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). The outcomes of healthy work environments have been increasingly studied by leading researchers in the field and their findings reveal positive outcomes for nurses, patients, and organizations. Examples include increased nurse job satisfaction, increased patient satisfaction, less errors, improved patient outcomes, and increased nurse retention. Research into nurses' views of their work environments has produced mixed results, with some aspects of the environments being viewed positively and others needing improvement; and there is evidence of large variability in work environments between organizations. This presentation reviews the latest evidence on the status of healthy work environments (including initial findings from the third in a series of surveys conducted in February 2013 by AACN of critical care nurse work environments) and the outcomes associated with healthy and non-healthy work environments. In addition, strategies to improve work environments are discussed.