Creating a Favorable Practice Environment for Nurses

Chronic nurse turnover and attendant personnel shortages threaten patient care. Inadequate pay and benefits are primary factors leading to nurses' job dissatisfaction and, subsequently, to turnover. However, recent meta-analyses suggest that a favorable practice setting can improve nurses' satisfaction and minimize turnover. The practice environment's potential to positively influence nurses' job satisfaction is analyzed in a large academic medical center. Nurse supervisors, job characteristics, management style, and service quality emphasis--not just money and benefits--surface as key factors associated with a positive practice milieu. Implications for raising nurses' job satisfaction, reducing turnover, and improving care delivery are discussed.