Relationship between nurse practice environment and work outcomes: A survey study in the Philippines

Challenges in the nurse practice environment greatly affect nurse work outcomes. This study investigated the relationship between nurse practice environment and work outcomes in the Philippines.

This cross-sectional survey involved 549 hospital nurses in the Philippines in 2018. The nurse practice environment was measured using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Four self-report scales were used to measure work outcomes: job satisfaction, job burnout, job stress and nurse-assessed quality of care. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyse the data.

Significant relationships were found between nurse and organizational characteristics and nurse practice environment. Further, multivariate regression analysis revealed that the nurse practice environment had a significant and positive relationship with perceived quality of care and a significant and negative relationship with job burnout and job stress.

A favourable work environment significantly reduced job burnout and job stress and improved the quality of patient care. With considerable migration abroad, a favourable nurse practice environment may engage a better nurse workforce in the country and subsequently reduce migration. Managers must focus on developing good nurse practice environments that will improve professional work outcomes and quality patient care.