1.Perception of nurses on the practice environment: Experience from Malaysia
Suhana Jawahir ; Nurul Nadiah Mohamad Anuar ; Siti Fadzilah Sheikh Abdullah ; Saraswathy Silvernayagam ; Ee Hong Tan
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2021;76(1):73-79
Introduction: Positive professional practice environments
are crucial to safeguard a healthy and safe working
conditions for health workforce, including nurses; so as to
ensure provision of quality healthcare and safety of patient.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study to assess
nurses’ perceptions towards nursing practice environment
and factors associated with their perceptions. A validated
Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PESNWI) questionnaire was administered to nurses working in
two Ministry of Health hospitals. The questionnaire
comprises of five subscales: Participation, Foundation,
Managers Support, Workforce Adequacy and
Physician/Nurse Relations. Mean scores of >2.50 were
considered as favourable, and ≤2.50 were considered as
unfavourable. Simple linear and multiple linear regression
analysis were employed to identify factors associated with
their perceptions. Analysis was carried out using STATA
version 14.0.
Results: A total of 366 respondents took part in the study,
with a response rate of 98.4%. Majority were working shift
(89.6%) and working extended hours (62.3%). In general, the
nursing practice environments were rated as favourable.
Overall mean score was 2.90±0.03 and four out of five
subscales’ mean scores were >2.50. Foundation for quality
nursing care was perceived as the most favourable
subscale, while workforce adequacy was perceived as the
least favourable. There were statistically significant
association between working extended hours, doing double
shift and working during day off with perceived
unfavourable workforce adequacy.
Conclusion: Nursing practice environment was perceived as
favourable in the studied hospitals. Policy makers, service
providers, and hospital managers could explore further on
human resource planning and management of nursing
personnel to tackle the issue of nurse staffing in the country.