BACKGROUND

Fostering a healthy work environment becomes a necessity in health care institutions that value quality care and patient safety. However, limited studies investigated the impact of work environment characteristics including staffing and teamness among healthcare teams on adverse patient events in Oman.

AIMS

To examine the (1) impact of work environment, interprofessional teamness, staffing levels on adverse patient events and (2) predicting factors of perceptions of work environment among nurses in the Sultanate of Oman.

METHOD

A cross-sectional descriptive design was utilized to collect data from 2113 nurses. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire that included a set of instruments.

RESULTS

The results showed a strong positive relationship between work environment and teamness (r = 0.59, p < 0.001). Nurses working in a favorable environment that has positive teamwork reported a reduction in adverse events including patient and family complaints, patient and family verbal abuse, patient falls, nosocomial infections, and medication errors (p < 0.001). There was a nonsignificant correlation between staffing and adverse patient events.

CONCLUSION

Fostering a healthy and supportive work environment continue to be crucial for ensuring patient safety. Nurse administrators should strive to improve work environment through creating a culture that values interprofessional teamwork and collaborative relationships.