Nurses' perceptions of the working environment: a UK independent sector study

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• The working environment significantly impacts employee well-being.
• Previous UK studies on nurses' work environment perceptions using the Work Environment Scale (WES) have limited data for mental health and learning disability settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess registered nurses' perceptions of their working environment in specialist mental health and learning disability settings.
• To provide updated benchmark data for these nursing groups.

Main Methods:

• 161 registered nurses from five specialist divisions (forensic adult mental health, adolescent mental health, elderly continuing care, adult/adolescent learning disability, brain injury rehabilitation) in a charitable hospital completed the WES.
• Data analysis focused on comparing WES subscale scores across different clinical divisions.

Main Results:

• Nurses across different clinical divisions reported similar perceptions, with the only significant difference found on the 'physical comfort' subscale.
• The overall working environment was characterized by high levels of support, cohesion, and managerial control, with slightly lower levels of autonomy.
• This sample's WES scores differed from previous UK research findings.

Conclusions:

• The study provides current data on the perceptions of the working environment for nurses in mental health and learning disability settings.
• Observed differences in perceptions may be attributed to the non-NHS organizational context or the effect of working in secure environments.
• Further research is needed to differentiate between organizational and secure environment effects on nurse perceptions.