Evaluation of working environment by clinical nurses to healthy working environment standards

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the extent to which the healthy working environment standards developed for nurses in Turkey were implemented in healthcare institutions, to determine the differences between the units and the perception of nurses concerning the importance and priority of main standards in creating a healthy working environment. Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 550 clinical nurses providing direct patient care in the surgical, internal medicine and intensive care units of three education research hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health in Izmir. A total of 309 nurses, who accepted to participate in the study and had worked in their current institution for at least one year, were included in the sample. As the data collection tools, the Individual and Working Characteristics Form, the Evaluation Form of Application of Healthy Working Environment Standards in the Institution, the Evaluation of the Significance of Healthy Working Environment Main Standards, and the Priority Ranking Evaluation Form of Healthy Working Environment Main Standards were used. Data were evaluated by descriptive statistics, non-parametric one-way analysis of variance, and the Mann-Whitney U test with the Bonferroni correction using SPSS v. 22.0. Written permission was obtained from the hospitals where the research was to be conducted, and the ethics committee of the university approved the study. Results: While the implementation of all of the standards had an average of 2.07 (0.49), the main standard of "Effective Management and Leadership" had the lowest average at 1.76 (0.60) and "Team Collaboration, Communication, Appreciation and Recognition" had an average of 2.27 (0.63). "Nurse Workload" was considered to be the most important Standard by 80.3% of the nurses and most prioritized by 70.3%. It was staed that the main standard of "Suitable Physical Conditions and Adequate Tools-Equipment" was implemented at a lower level in intensive care units. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the clinical nurses considered that all the standards of healthy working environment were implemented at a low to moderate level in their institutions. Key Words: Nurses, Healthy Working Environment, Standards