• Beth T Ulrich, Ramón Lavandero, Dana Woods, and Sean Early.
• Beth T. Ulrich is a Senior Partner at Innovative Health Resources, Houston, Texas, and a consultant on Healthy Work Environments for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses in Aliso Viejo, California, and Editor of the Nephrology Nursing Journal.Ramón Lavandero is a Senior Director of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and a Clinical Associate Professor at Yale University School of Nursing in New Haven, Connecticut.Dana Woods is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.Sean Early is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. bethulrich@aol.com.
• Crit Care Nurse. 2014 Aug 1;34(4):64-79.

BackgroundThe health of critical care nurse work environments has been shown to affect patient care outcomes as well as the job satisfaction and retention of registered nurses. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Critical Care Nurse Work Environment Survey was first conducted in 2006 following the release of the AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining a Healthy Work Environment and was conducted again in 2008. This article reports the results of the third AACN Critical Care Nurse Work Environment Survey conducted in 2013.ObjectiveTo evaluate the current state of critical care nurse work environments.MethodsA total of 8444 AACN members and constituents responded to an online survey.ResultsThe overall health of critical care nurses' work environments has declined since 2008, as have nurses' perceptions of the quality of care. Respondents rated their overall work environment and factors associated with healthy work environments including quality of patient care, staffing, communication and collaboration, respect, physical and mental safety, moral distress, nursing leadership, support for certification and continuing education, meaningful recognition, job satisfaction, and career plans. Although some factors improved, declines in any factors are a concern.ConclusionsAn increasing body of evidence has shown relationships between healthy nurse work environments and patient outcomes. The results of this 2013 survey identified areas in which the health of critical care nurse work environments needs attention and care, requiring the relentless true collaboration of everyone involved.©2014 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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