NR 103 Transition to the Nursing Profession Transitions Paper

Patient safety is fundamental to health care quality, especially in acute care settings where patients are exposed to various risks and hazards. One key factor influencing patient safety is the nursing work environment, which refers to the organizational and interpersonal conditions that affect the work and outcomes of nurses and their patients. According to the American Nurses Association, a positive nursing work environment is characterized by adequate staffing, resources, empowerment, leadership, communication, and collaboration (ANA, n.d.). However, many nurses face challenges and barriers in their work environment, such as heavy workloads, staff shortages, poor communication, and lack of support. These challenges can negatively affect the nurses’ well-being, performance, and patient safety and outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the connection between hospital patient safety and the work environment for nurses, using the article by Mihdawi et al. (2020) as the primary source of evidence. The article “The Influence of Nursing Work Environment on Patient Safety” was published in Workplace Health & Safety in 2020. To find out how the nurse work environment affects patient safety procedures and culture, the authors carried out a cross-sectional study in Jordan.

Discussion of Key Points

The article by Mihdawi et al. (2020) explores The association between the nursing workplace, patient safety practices, and patient safety culture in hospitals using a cross-sectional survey design and two validated instruments. The authors found that the nursing work environment had an advantageous and notable effect on patient safety practices, as measured by the Overall Perceptions of Patient Safety subscale from the “Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture” (HSPSC) and the “Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index” (PES-NWI). The authors also found that three aspects of the nursing work environment; professional communication style, higher nurses’ participation in hospital quality improvement programs, and also adequate staffing and resource availability, were associated with higher levels of perceived patient safety. These findings suggest that the nursing work environment is an essential factor influencing hospital patient care quality and safety. Improving the nursing work environment can enhance patient safety practices and culture.

The article by Mihdawi et al. (2020) also provides some implications and recommendations for practice and policy. The authors emphasize the necessity to enhance the working conditions for nurses and patient safety in hospitals, especially in developing countries, where the challenges and barriers are more prevalent and severe. They propose some strategies and interventions to improve the nursing work environment, such as increasing the nurse-to-patient ratio, providing adequate resources and equipment, enha