Healthy Work Environment in Nursing

The American Organization for Nursing Leaders in association with the Nursing Organization Alliance believe that a healthy work environment that enables and facilitates the professional practice of nursing to provide safe, compassionate, person-centered, evidence-based care must contain the following 9 key elements.

1. Collaborative practice culture
   • Respectful, collegial communication and behavior
   • Team orientation
   • Presence of trust
   • Respect for diversity
2. Communication rich culture
   • Clear and respectful
   • Open and trusting
3. A culture of accountability
   • Role expectations are clearly defined
   • Everyone is accountable
4. The presence of adequate numbers of qualified nurses
   • Ability to provide quality care to meet client/patient’s needs
   • Work/home life balance
5. The presence of expert, competent, credible, visible leadership
   • Serve as an advocate for nursing practice
   • Support shared decision making
   • Allocate resources to support nursing
6. Shared decision making at all levels
   • Nurses participate in system, organizational and process decisions
   • Formal structure exists to support shared decision making
   • Nurses have control over their practice
7. The encouragement of professional practice and continued growth/development
   • Continuing education/certification is supported/encouraged
   • Participation in professional association encouraged
   • An information rich environment is supported
8. Recognition of the value of nursing’s contribution
   • Reward and pay for performance
   • Career mobility and expansion
9. Recognition by nurses for their meaningful contribution to practice
   (AONL, 2019 Elements of a Healthy Practice Environment)

Select 3 of the 9 elements to assess your current work environment. In your paper,
• Explain why you selected these 3 elements.
• Assess your current work environment using the 3 elements.
• Provide examples that indicate positive achievement or concerns.
• Provide recommendations to improve performance or maintain excellence in each area.
• Conclude with a reflection on the interconnectedness of these 3 elements.
Support your responses with at least 4 scholarly or professional sources that are not more than 7 years old. Your paper should be 6 pages in length including the title and references pages. Apply APA formatting to your paper and references.