Influence of Work Environment Conditions on the Ability of Critical Care Nurses to Provide Efficacious Nursing Care in Puerto Rico

Purpose:

Most recent published statistics of the Puerto Rico’s Department of Health (2013) report that there are over 19,735 active registered nurses.  No evidence describes the relationship between working conditions and the ability of nurses to deliver safe, quality, and efficient care in Puerto Rico. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of work environment conditions on the ability of critical care nurses to provide efficacious nursing care. The specific aim is to determine the influence of work empowerment over the efficacy of care provided by critical care nurses.  The instruments to be administered in this quantitative research are Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire (CWEQ) and Caring Efficacy Scale (CES), in order to assess the relationship between the nurses working conditions and care efficacy. 

Methods:

 Prior to initiating the study, and with the corresponding authorization, the CWEQ and the CES will be translated from English to Spanish and adapted to the Puerto Rican culture and tested on 10% of the projected sample of the target population to measure their validity and reliability. Pilot participants will be excluded from the research sample. Once the appropriate translation is established, these instruments will be administered, analyzed, and correlated in order to gather baseline data on the nursing staff’s perceptions of their work structural environment empowerment and their self-efficacy. Following approvals of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Institutional Review Board (IRB) and proper hospital administration, using convenience sampling, the CWEQ and CES will be paired and administered to 200 nurses from critical care units (emergency and trauma departments) of hospitals in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Participation in the study will be voluntary and a Survey Consent Form will be provided with the questionnaires.  Data will be initially analyzed through descriptive statistics.  Correlational analysis, based on Pearson product-moment correlations, will be conducted in order to gather baseline data on the nursing staff’s perceptions of their work environment and self-efficacy. The correlation between the two variables will provide evidence which may guide the future of nursing practice in Puerto Rico. Findings will also contribute to the development of nursing science by providing new evidence for the improvement of working conditions of nurses in Puerto Rico ultimately improving patient care.

Results:

Results will be analyzed and correlated in order to gather baseline data on the nursing staff’s perceptions of their work structural environment and their self-efficacy. The correlation between the two variables will provide evidence which may guide the future of nursing practice in PR.  Findings will contribute to the development of nursing science by providing new evidence for the improvement of working conditions of nurses in Puerto Rico ultimately improving patient care. The results, discussion and implications will be available by July 2015.

Conclusion:

The results, discussion and implications will be available by July 2015.