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Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice
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The Rural Nurse Work Environment and Structural Empowerment

Julianne P. Krebs, DNP, RN, CNAA, BC

Southern State Community College, Hillsboro, Ohio

Elizabeth A. Madigan, PhD, RN, FAAN

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio

Susan Tullai-McGuinness, PhD, RN

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio

Rural health care organizations struggle to attract and retain nurses, yet much of the research has focused on characteristics of the nurse work environment or empowerment in urban hospitals. The purpose of this study was to examine the nurse work environment in rural areas across settings by describing the relationship between structural empowerment and characteristics of the nurse work environment. Nurses ( N = 97) working in home care agencies and hospitals were surveyed. Significant differences were found between the groups, with home care nurses having significantly higher empowerment scores than medical/surgical nurses. A strong correlation was found between characteristics of the nurse work environment and empowerment. Policy makers are using evidence to guide development of policies, but much of the research has been conducted in urban hospital settings. This study begins to provide evidence that differences exist between urban and rural areas and between practice settings.

Key Words: rural nurses • nurse work environment • structural empowerment • Magnet hospital characteristics • level of structural empowerment by work setting

Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, Vol. 9, No. 1, 28-39 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1527154408316255
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