Study of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Nursing Work Environments in Primary Care in Spain

Background: Nursing work environments are defined as the characteristics of the workplace that promote or hinder the provision of professional care by nurses. Positive work environments lead to better health outcomes. Our study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of primary health care set...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gea-Caballero V; Martínez-Riera JR; García-Martínez P; Casaña-Mohedo J; Antón-Solanas I; Verdeguer-Gómez MV; Santolaya-Arnedo I; Juárez-Vela R
Format: Article
Status:Published version
Publication date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:r-FISABIO. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica
OAI Identifier:oai:fisabio.fundanetsuite.com:p14905
Online Access:https://fisabio.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/14905
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:nursing
primary care
workplace
quality of health care
nurse&#8217
s role
Description
Summary:Background: Nursing work environments are defined as the characteristics of the workplace that promote or hinder the provision of professional care by nurses. Positive work environments lead to better health outcomes. Our study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of primary health care settings in Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out from 2018 to 2019. We used the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index and the TOP10 Questionnaire of Assessment of Environments in Primary Health Care for data collection. The associations between sociodemographic and professional variables were analyzed. Results: In total, 702 primary care nurses participated in the study. Responses were obtained from 14 out of the 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities. Nursing foundation for quality of care, management and leadership of head nurse and nurse-physician relationship were identified as strengths, whereas nurse participation in center affairs and adequate human resources to ensure quality of care were identified as weaknesses of the nursing work environment in primary health care. Older nurses and those educated to doctoral level were the most critical in the nursing work environments. Variables Age, Level of Education and Managerial Role showed a significant relation with global score in the questionnaire. Conclusion: Interventions by nurse managers in primary health care should focus on improving identified weaknesses to improve quality of care and health outcomes.