What Affects Quality of Nursing Care?

Nurse-to-patient ratios are almost always considered the prime factor influencing quality of care. There are other factors, however, which are also important to consider. A recent study published in the current issue of Health Care Management Review and chronicled on EurekAlert! lists some of these factors that RNs believe have impact on their quality of care. In order of influence, the following factors can affect quality of care: physical work environment, work group cohesion, nurse-physician relations, procedural justice and job satisfaction.

Maja Djukic, PhD, RN, an assistant professor at New York University College of Nursing and an investigator of the study, explains the results by stating, "There has been a great deal of research into the impact of nurse staffing on patient care, but we know that increasing nurse-to-patient ratios isn't always possible. What we found in our study is that hospital administrators can improve a variety of work environment factors that are also likely to improve the quality of patient care, without having to change nurse-to-patient ratios. Improvements need to be strategic, because our work shows that the value of enhancing work environment varies across different factors."

RN careers and RN education may be affected by the results of this study. If there are ways to improve the working environment and patient care besides the oft-cited increase in nurse-to-patient ratio, they are certainly worth investigating at all levels of nursing!