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☐ ☆ ✇ Journal of Advanced Nursing

Intensive Care Unit Nurses' Perceptions of Work Environments: A Cross‐Sectional Study From Five European Counties

ABSTRACT

Aim

To explore intensive care nurses' perceptions of their work environments at the unit and organisational levels according to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses standards, their impact on care quality, national differences, and demographic associations.

Design

Cross-sectional study using a survey design.

Methods

Study conducted between January 2021 and April 2022, using a convenience sample of intensive care unit nurses across Cyprus, Spain, Croatia, and Poland, Romania. The Critical Elements of a Healthy Work Environment Scale (CEHWES) developed by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and cross-culturally adapted by the authors was used, which included four sections, including sociodemographic data and a total of 50 questions. The core section of the tool comprised 16 questions using Likert-type response (1—strongly disagree—4 strongly agree). Perception of fulfilment of healthy work environment standards was calculated using the aforementioned Likert-type scale.

Results

A total of 1183 nurses participated reporting moderate perception of fulfilment of the standards, with mean scores ranging from 2.6 to 2.8. Skilled communication and effective decision making were the highest rated. 56% (n = 662) reported awareness of some standards and while 25.8% (n = 305) reported full or significant implementation in their unit. Significant differences related to the perception of all standards were observed across countries. Implementation of the standards was significantly associated with higher quality of care having better perception when standards were fully implemented.

Conclusions

This study shows moderate perception of healthy work environment standards among intensive care nurses. Country differences highlight the need for more awareness, training, and further implementation of the standards, which is linked to better care quality.

Implications for the Profession

Work environment still need to improve and needs to be prioritised by organisations, considering local and national particularities. Having a measuring tool available in multiple languages facilitates comparisons and getting a global picture.

Impact

The questionnaire used is validated in different languages, allowing results to be compared with other countries. Novel data from countries that were poorly investigated is now available. More evidence points out the need to prioritise work environment for maintaining quality in patient care.

Reporting Method

The study has been reported following the STROBE checklist.

Patient or Public Contribution

This study did not include patient or public involvement in its design, conduct, or reporting.

☐ ☆ ✇ PLOS ONE Medicine&Health

Stay or go? Exploring physician turnover in European Hospitals–Evidence from the METEOR survey

by Laura Maniscalco, Marco Enea, Peter de Winter, Neeltje de Vries, Anke Boone, Olivia Lavreysen, Kamil Baranski, Walter Mazzucco, Adriano Filadelfio Cracò, Malgorzata Kowalska, Szymon Szemik, Lode Godderis, Domenica Matranga

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022 there was a shortfall of approximately 1.2 million doctors, impacting healthcare system and patient care. Understanding turnover intentions is crucial for managing the healthcare workforce and ensuring continuous, and high-quality patient care. This study investigates the prevalence of physicians planning to leave their hospital or the profession, and risk factors such as job demand, resources, satisfaction, and burnout across four European countries. A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted in eight hospitals across Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy, including both academic and non-academic institutions. Data from Poland were excluded due to a low response rate, to preserve respondent anonymity. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusted for country, demographics, and work context, using significant variables from the univariable analysis. The overall intention to leave the hospital was 16.5%, with the highest rates in Belgium (19.6%) and Italy (19%), and the lowest in the Netherlands (9.8%). The intention to leave the profession was 9.1%, with the highest rate in the Netherlands (16.1%), followed by Belgium (6.3%) and Italy (5.7%). Physicians at higher risk of leaving the hospital were younger (adjOR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.86–0.93), lacked colleague support (adjOR = 3.18, 95%CI = 1.06–9.36), and were dissatisfied with job prospects (adjOR = 2.38, 95%CI = 1.02–5.54) and overall work (adjOR = 2.71, 95%CI = 1.09–6.69). Those more likely to leave the profession were from the Netherlands (adjOR = 4.14, 95%CI = 1.62–11.4), surgeons (adjOR = 2.90, 95%CI = 1.22–6.78), working in non-academic hospitals (adjOR = 2.43, 95%CI = 1.01–5.97), lacked development opportunities (adjOR = 5.97, 95%CI = 1.01–36.2), or were dissatisfied with career prospects (adjOR = 2.77, 95%CI = 1.04–7.27). Health system managers and relevant stakeholders involved in the planning, implementation, or evaluation of health policies and reforms aimed at improving healthcare job retention should take into account the key determinants of the intention to leave identified in this study.
☐ ☆ ✇ BMJ Open

Food environment of traditional peoples and communities: a scoping review protocol

Por: Barbosa · B. B. · Tavares · N. H. C. · Adriano · L. S. · Mendes · L. L. · Carioca · A. A. F. — Julio 30th 2025 at 11:57
Introduction

Traditional peoples and communities (TPCs), such as indigenous peoples and quilombolas (communities descended from escaped African slaves), face challenges related to food security and the impact of the food environment on their health. Changes in food systems, urbanisation and loss of territorial rights have contributed to less healthy eating patterns, with increased consumption of ultra-processed foods and a higher prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases. Despite this, there are gaps in knowledge about how the food environments of these communities are investigated, especially in relation to the physical, economic, political and sociocultural dimensions.

Methods and analysis

This scoping review will be conducted following the methodological framework developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute for scoping reviews, and its reporting will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. A systematic search will be carried out in the following databases: PubMed, SciELO, Web of Science, Embase and EBSCO, using terms related to traditional populations and food environments. The studies to be included will be selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria defined based on the population, concept and context technique. The study population will include TPCs, such as indigenous peoples and quilombolas; the concept will address the food environment in its physical, economic, political and sociocultural dimensions; and the context will encompass studies conducted at a global level, without any restrictions on geographic location. The study type will include original articles and grey literature. The screening of studies will involve independent reviewers and predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data synthesis will be presented in tables, including information on focus, geographic scope and methodology of the selected studies. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Exposure tool.

Ethics and dissemination

As the study does not involve the collection of primary data or human participants, it does not require ethical approval. The results will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and presented at public health and nutrition conferences, contributing to the advancement of knowledge on food environments of TPCs.

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