Ambiente da prática de enfermagem em unidades de terapia intensiva

Objective To analyze the nursing practice environment in intensive care units. Methods This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach, carried out with 209 nursing professionals of three Brazilian teaching hospitals. The nursing work environment was evaluated using the Practice Environment Scale. Data were analyzed descriptively, assuming a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency of the constructs. Results Nurse professionals considered unfavorable four of the five professional practice environment dimensions: nurse participation in hospital affairs, nursing foundation for quality of care, nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses and staffing and resources adequacy. Only the dimension of collegial nurse-physician relations presented a positive evaluation. Unfavorable characteristics of the working environment were recognized more strongly by nurses in comparison to nursing technicians. Conclusion The environment proved to be unfavorable for the practice of nursing professionals. Efforts are necessary to make the work environment more attractive to them, thus stimulating improvements in the quality and safety of care delivered to patients.