title: Describing Nurse Leaders' and Direct Care Nurses' Perceptions of a Healthy Work Environment in Acute Care Settings, Part 2.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Healthy Work Environment Assessment Tool was developed as a simple screening tool to assess the characteristics of a healthy work environment (HWE) in critical care environments.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of these 2 qualitative research studies are to explore the nurse leaders' and direct care nurses' perceptions of the meaning of a HWE, to describe the nurse leaders' and direct care nurses' perceptions of a HWE, and to define the characteristics of a HWE in acute care settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Exploratory descriptive designs using focus groups and guided questions with tape-recorded interviews were used to define the characteristics of an HWE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 6 original themes from AACN HWE standards and 2 new themes emerged as a result of the nurse leaders and direct care nurses defining the characteristics of a HWE, which included appropriate staffing, authentic leadership, effective decision making, meaningful recognition, skilled communication, true collaboration genuine teamwork, and physical and psychological safety. The qualitative statements from these 2 studies will be used in future studies to describe and develop HWE scales for nurse leaders and direct care nurses and to assess the psychometric properties of these new tools.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Magnet Coordinator/Nurse Researcher (Dr Huddleston), Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Irving, Texas; and Associate Dean (Dr Gray), College of Natural and Health Sciences, Oklahoma Christian University, Edmond.
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huddleston
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D013781:Texas; D017132:Workplace; D055815:Young Adult