Good practice environments for nurses are linked to lower levels of missed care, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship.
For the study, researchers used secondary analysis of the 2015 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Registered Nurse Survey data. They used subscales of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index to measure practice environment characteristics. The researchers analyzed a sample that included survey responses from 31,650 RNs.
The study shows 84.1 percent of unit RNs reported missing at least one of the 15 necessary care activities. However, units with good nursing practice environments displayed 63.3 percent lower odds of RNs missing care activities as compared to poor environment units.
Additionally, units had 81.5 percent lower odds of having RNs miss any necessary care activities with a one-point increase in the staffing and resource adequacy score; and 21.9 percent lower odds for a one-point increase in the nurse-physician relations score.