The Nursing Practice Environment in a University Hospital During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: to assess the environment of nursing professional practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: cross-sectional study addressing a sample comprising nursing workers from a university hospital. The Brazilian version of the Practice Environment Scale was used, with 24 items distributed into five subscales. The analyses were performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 25; the statistical significance was set at 5% (p≤0.05), and the internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha. Results: 243 workers participated in the study: 62.1% of nursing technicians and aides and 37.9% of nurses. The mean score on the Practice Environment Scale was 2.58 (standard deviation=0.69). Three of the five subscales were poorly assessed: “Nursing foundations for quality of care” (mean 2.58 and SD ± 0.73), “Nursing manager, ability, leadership, and support of nurses” (mean 2.74 and SD ± 0.82), and “Collegial nurse-physician relations” (mean 2.78 and SD ± 0.76). The perception of the professionals who received training to care for Covid-19 patients was more favorable than those who did not receive any training. Conclusion: The nursing work environment during the pandemic was considered mixed; therefore, improvements are required to make nursing working conditions as adequate as possible.