Introduction

Abstract

Nearly two decades ago, the current era in research and practice in patient safety and quality began. A crisis in nurse workforces in health-care systems around the world had been declared, and the idea of “work environment” was about to be taken up by leaders and researchers throughout the nursing profession. Today, no one questions the need to deal with specific safety hazards and human factors concerns in health care. However, it is now recognized that communication and teamwork greatly influence patient safety. Moreover, work environments are now recognized as a key predictor of both nurses’ experience at work and of the quality of care they are able to deliver. Therefore, work environment interventions hold great promise for addressing broad ranges of clinical care delivery challenges in an efficient way.