RN4CAST Study in Murcia: Hospital organizational characteristics and nursing staff profiles

Objective: To determine the profile of nurses in public hospitals in Murcia and to assess how they perceive their work environment, the quality of care and their level of burnout (the RN4CAST project repetition). Material and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 8 hospitals in Murcia. Data were collected between 2009 and 2010 from 687 nurses (stratified by the type of unit) using a self-completed questionnaire with 149 items covering variables related to sociodemographics; work; perception of the work place (PES-NWI); burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory); and the quality of patient care, and patient safety. Analysis: Non parametric tests, for two samples or k samples according to the comparison. Results: A total of 495 questionnaires were collected (72%). Most respondents were female (80.4%) having a mean age of 34.1 (SD = 7.1) years, and they had been working for 9.4 (SD = 7.4) years. Just over one-quarter (25.7%) had carried out more than 300 hours of training in the previous 24 months. The patient/nurse ratio was 11.7 (SD = 3.6), varying between hospitals. The nurses reported 25% of hospitals as having an unfavorable work environment, whereas 37.5% had favorable ones; large hospitals were less highly valued. Few respondents intended to give up their jobs (16.8%). Burnout levels revealed emotional exhaustion in 18.4% of respondents; depersonalization in 7.5%, and personal fulfillment in 28.8%. Perception of quality varied between centers and the perception of adverse effects was more favorable in small hospitals. Conclusions: Our professionals were generally satisfied, but given the unfavorable work environment, measures should be adopted for improving well-being and reducing weaknesses. (C) 2012 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.