Nursing practice environment as perceived by the Malaysian private hospital nurses

Abstract

Background:The escalating rate of private hospital nurses leaving their workplace raised serious concern among the stakeholders. Past studies had found that nursing practice environment was the key influence on nurses' leaving intention, but studies examining the quality of nursing practice environment of private hospital settings was scarce and therefore warrant investigation to provide direction for interventions in addressing nursing turnover.Objectives: To determine nurses' perceptions towards nursing practice environment and whether there is any significant associations with nurses' demographic variables.Methods: Cross-sectional inferential survey study was conducted at four private hospitals in the Peninsular Malaysia using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and 885 nurses participated in the study.Results: Nurses rated their practice environment as favourable. However, items stated in "staffing and resource adequacy" subscale warrant serious attention because nurses rated poorly on item related to "enough staff to get the work done" (M = 2.37, SD = .81) and "enough registered nurses to provide quality patient care" (M = 2.41, SD = .82). Furthermore, t-test analyses found that nurses with educational sponsorship bond (p < .001), higher educational qualifications (p < .05), and have been working in the hospital since graduation (p < .001) were more likely to rate their practice environment lower. Conclusion:Hospital administrators play significant role in sustaining and creating positive nursing practice environment in order to ensure steady supply of nurses to meet the challenging healthcare needs.