Nursing work environment and accreditation: Is there a relationship?

The association between Magnet recognition and nursing work environment is well established; however, little is known about hospital accreditation and its relationship to the nursing work environment.

To describe the Brazilian nurses' perceptions of the work environment and their relationship with hospital accreditation.

A cross-sectional survey study was carried out in three Brazilian hospitals. Nurses who delivered direct patient care and worked for at least 6 months were invited to participate. Those who were on vacation or leave for any reason during data collection were excluded. The participants were asked to fill out the personal and professional characterization form and the Brazilian version of the Revised Nursing Work Index.

The work environment was evaluated as favourable by Brazilian nurses. Linear regression analysis evidenced that hospital accreditation is associated with the nursing work environment, affecting the nurse-physician relationship (OR = 0.266, p < .001), organisational support (OR = 0.256, p < .001), control over the practice setting (OR = 0.229, p < .001) and autonomy (OR = 0.227, p < .001).

The findings suggest that there is a positive influence of hospital accreditation on nurses' perceptions of the work environment concerning autonomy, nurse-physician relationship, control over the practice setting and organisational support.

Nurse managers can apply the recommendations of certification programmes in practice settings to improve the nursing work environment.