Work environment for Chinese nurses in different types of ICUs: a multisite cross-sectional survey

To investigate the current nurse work environment, levels of job satisfaction and quality of patient care, and to identify intensive care units with a healthier work environment in mainland China.

A healthy work environment is closely related to a higher nurse job satisfaction and a better patient care quality. The work environment has not been extensively explored among Chinese intensive care unit nurses.

The Chinese version of the Essentials of Magnetism II was used to measure the nurse work environment and another two 0-10 single-item scales were used to assess nurses' overall job satisfaction and nurse-assessed quality of care.

The study found that the eight essentials of Chinese version of the Essentials of Magnetism II were significantly correlated with each other and also correlated with overall job satisfaction and quality of care. Nurses from medical intensive care units had a healthier work environment with higher scores of overall job satisfaction and quality of care than other intensive care units, while surgical intensive care units showed the least healthy work environment with the lowest overall job satisfaction and quality of care scores identified. The essentials of Chinese version of the Essentials of Magnetism II, overall job satisfaction and quality of care were also correlated with nurses' work experience and their education level.

Nurse administrators and health policy-makers should establish a healthy work environment for intensive care units nurses, especially for those from surgical intensive care units.