The Work Environment of Nursing Professionals and the Quality of the Care They Provide: A Perspective from Health Management and Leadership
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53485/rgn.v9i3.762Keywords:
work environment, nursing, quality of care, health management, leadership.Abstract
The environment in which nursing professionals work has a direct bearing on how health services are organized and delivered, making it, from a health management and planning standpoint, a variable that institutional leadership teams cannot afford to leave to chance. Nurses’ working conditions, the quality of their professional relationships, and the institutional support they receive shape day-to-day clinical practice and, in turn, patients’ perceptions of the care they receive. Objective: To examine in depth the relationship between the nursing work environment and the quality of care provided, from a health management and leadership perspective, with implications for institutional direction. Methodology: An exploratory qualitative review was conducted through an exhaustive search of empirical research published between 2019 and 2024 in databases of recognized scientific rigor. Results: A solid association was confirmed between favorable work environments and improved quality-of-care outcomes; healthier organizational settings were consistently linked to greater patient safety, higher professional satisfaction, and stronger clinical performance. Conclusions: The nursing work environment has a significant bearing on the quality of care delivered, which points to the need to strengthen organizational conditions through strategic management tools —such as the Balanced Scorecard and transformational leadership models— capable of sustaining professional practice over time and improving institutional performance.
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