The relationship between the nurses' work environment and the quality and safe nursing care: Slovenian study using the RN4CAST questionnaire.

Abstract

IntroductionThe safety and quality of patient care are basic guidelines in finding new and improved solutions in nursing. Important and influential factors shape the nurses' work environment in hospitals.PurposeWith the study, we intended to investigate whether the perception of nurses' work environment is related to the safety culture and the quality of patient care and whether it differs according to nurses' level of education.Methods of workThe study with a quantitative research method was conducted at the six clinical departments of the University Medical Centre, Ljubljana in 2019. We used a survey questionnaire from the European survey Nurse forecasting in Europe (RN4CAST).Results270 nurses were included in the study. The response rate was 54%. The study confirmed that there is a correlation between the assessment of the nurses' work environment and the general assessment of patient safety (r = 0.36; p Discussion and conclusionWe confirmed the correlation between the assessment of nurses' work environment and patient safety and the quality of health care, and that employees' education influences the assessment and perception of the work environment.