Nursing's Leadership Role in Advancing Professional Practice/Work Environments as Part of the Quadruple Aim

Abstract

Development of healthy professional practice/work environments (PPWEs) for nursing practice is critical to optimizing patient safety and workforce satisfaction while limiting turnover. Healthy PPWEs are linked with improved outcomes for patients, the workforce, and organizations. Nurses constitute the greatest professional segment of the US health care workforce and influence PPWEs, patient experience, health care quality, and cost per capita, all aspects of the quadruple aim. This article shares a model of leadership identified by executive nurse leaders to address and foster healthy PPWEs. A focus group of 16 expert nurse leaders convened an invitational meeting in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss nurse leaders' roles in optimizing the quadruple aim. The discussions led to shared perceptions about the prevalence of barriers to optimizing PPWEs; nursing leaders' responsibility to address the barriers to supporting improvement of the work-life of nursing professionals; and the need for early integration of leadership education, theory, and practice in every nurse's career.