Status and associations of nursing practice environments in intensive care units: A cross-sectional study in China

The objective of this study is to investigate the status and associations of nursing practice environments in intensive care units of tertiary hospitals and provide suggestions for improvement.

Nursing shortage is an urgent global problem and a concern in China. Intensive care unit nurses have been reported to have one of the highest rates of burnout; however, their comprehensive perceptions of nursing practice environments have not yet been examined.

The Nursing Practice Environment Scale was used to conduct a questionnaire-based survey of 1,523 intensive care unit nurses from 22 tertiary hospitals in China. The data collection was conducted in 2020.

The overall score for the nursing practice environment was 77.042 ± 19.682 (where 100 was the highest possible score). The three highest scoring dimensions were quality management, clinical nursing professionalism and professional improvement, whereas the three lowest-scoring dimensions were hospital management participation, remuneration package and social status. Educational background, position, gender and hospital type were significantly associated with nurses' satisfaction with the working environment.

Chinese nurses in the intensive care units of tertiary hospitals reported relatively satisfactory nursing practice environments, but the scale scores in dimensions such as hospital management participation, remuneration package and social status remained low.

Understanding the status and associations of the nursing practice environment in intensive care units provides evidence that new policies are needed. Furthermore, managers are responsible for supervising and ensuring that nursing practice environments meet the criteria necessary to improve job satisfaction.