Professional nursing practice: environment and emotional exhaustion among intensive care nurses

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the characteristics of the professional nursing practice environment and its relationship with burnout, perception of quality of care, job satisfaction and the intention to leave the job in the next 12 months. METHOD: cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach to data. The sample was composed of 129 nurses working in adult Intensive Care Units from a region in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: The structural equation modeling, using path analysis, revealed that characteristics of the environment influence job satisfaction, perception of quality of care, and having an intention to leave their job, when mediated by emotional exhaustion. Nurses with limited autonomy, poor control over their practice, and poor relationships with physicians, experience a greater level of emotional exhaustion, which can negatively influence their perception of quality of care, job satisfaction and an intention to abandon their jobs. CONCLUSION: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion may negatively influence care delivery. Therefore, there is a need to adopt strategies to minimize this condition among nurses.