I'm a second year BScN student in British Columbia. I have recently been investigating the issue of maintaining or establishing quality practice environments for nurses. A quality practice enviroments is vital for nurses so that they can meet the standards for nursing practice and provide safe and appropriate nursing care despite the challenges faced today in doing so. The CNA classifies quality practice environments as one of the central values to ethical nursing practice including it the the CNA's Code of Ethics stating, "Nurses value and advocate for quality practice environments that have organizatonal structures and resources necessary to ensure safety, support and respect for all persons in the work setting." The RNABC has provided support to nurses in British Columbia to assist them, in collaboration with others, to develop or maintain quality practice environments. One support is the document outlining 5 guidelines along with indicators to assist nurses and others to identify what health care organizations need to have in place to enable nurses to practise safely and to provide appropriate care (http://www.rnabc.bc.ca/pdf/Quality_practice_environment_409.pdf). These guidelines are: workload management, nursing leadership, control over practice, professional development, and organizational support. This has lead me to some questions for those working in the health care enviroment today. I would like to know if the issue of establishing or mainitaining quality practice environments is at the forefront of your practice? What do you find effective in the establishment of such environments and/or what are some of the barriers to this? Has the lack of a quality practice environment ever caused you to question your career choice or to leave environment in which this was experienced? Do you have any words of wisdom to one training in the profession that will enable me to contribute to a quality practice environment now, as a student nurse, and later as a practicing RN? I value your comments and opinions and look forward to reading them!
