[Perception of work environment of nurses in hospitals of the Spanish national health system. RN4CAST-Spain project]

Objective: To appraise the perception of Registered Nurses working at Spanish National Health System (SNHS) hospitals about work environment, quality of care and burnout.

Method: Cross-sectional study addressed to 7539 nurses in 59 Spanish public hospitals over 150 beds belonging to the NHS between 2009 and 2010. Data was collected on: socio-demographic and academic background, job satisfaction, perception of work environment (PES-NWI) and burnout (MBI).

Results: Among 7539 questionnaires, 5654 were collected (75%). The nurses' average age was 37,5 (SD=9,5) years old, 88% (4929) were female and they had a median of 12 years of experience. The patient/nurse ratio was 11/1. 26% of nurses (1468) showed their intention to leave the hospital. 55% of nurses (3080) showed moderate job satisfaction. The work environment was unfavorable for 48% (2729) of nurses. 22% (1091) showed high burnout levels.

Conclusions: The results show a high nurses' participation, who relate moderate job satisfaction. However, on PES-NWI, nearly half of nurses show an unfavorable work environment.