Nurses play a central role in healthcare delivery, and the conditions in which they work have important implications for organizational performance and patient care. The nursing work environment is a key determinant of nurses’ attitudes and behaviors, including organizational commitment, which is essential for workforce stability and quality of care. Therefore, this study examined the influence of the nursing work environment on organizational commitment among nurses working in healthcare facilities across Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted across healthcare facilities in the five regions of Saudi Arabia. A convenience sample of 149 registered nurses completed an online questionnaire between April and August 2025 using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and the Three-Component Model (TCM) of Organizational Commitment questionnaire, both of which are validated instruments with established reliability and validity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression to examine the relationships between the nursing work environment and affective, continuance, and normative organizational commitment. Participants reported a moderately favorable nursing work environment and moderate levels of organizational commitment, including affective, continuance, and normative commitment. The nursing work environment was significantly and positively associated with affective commitment (r = .436, p < .001) and showed a weaker but still statistically significant association with normative commitment (r = .249, p = .002). In contrast, no significant association was found between the work environment and continuance commitment (r = .079, p = .341). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the work environment significantly influenced affective commitment (β = 0.469, 95% CI 0.712, 1.491, p < .001, R² = 0.255) and normative commitment (β = 0.324, 95% CI 0.351, 1.198, p < .001, R² = 0.130), whereas neither the work environment nor the control variables significantly influenced continuance commitment (R² = 0.057). The findings indicate that the nursing work environment plays an important role in shaping nurses’ emotional attachment and sense of obligation to their organizations. However, it was not significantly associated with continuance commitment. Improving workplace conditions may therefore strengthen key dimensions of organizational commitment and support nurse retention and organizational stability within healthcare settings, which is particularly important in the Saudi healthcare context where workforce sustainability and quality of care remain national priorities. Future longitudinal and intervention-based studies are needed to further examine causal relationships and evaluate strategies aimed at strengthening the nursing work environment and organizational commitment.
Shajiri et al. (Thu,) studied this question.