Nurse work environment: comparison between private and public hospitals

ABSTRACT Objective To compare the characteristics of the work environment that enable the professional practice of nurses in private and public organizations. Methods A quantitative, exploratory, cross-section study, carried out in four health organizations - one public and three private, with 188 registered nurses. Participants answered the Brazilian version of the Nursing Work Index − Revised, which aims to evaluate the presence of characteristics that favor the development of nursing activities through 15 items distributed into three subscales: autonomy, control over the practice setting and relationships with physicians. The measurement scale used is Likert, and lower scores represent better evaluation of the environment, i.e. , more favorable characteristics are present to assist the development of nursing activities. Results The means of the responses of participants of private hospitals were smaller in all subscales of the instrument, as compared to those from public hospitals. Conclusion The environment of private hospitals showed more favorable characteristics to the professional practice of registered nurses than the public hospital environment.