The scholarship related to nursing work environments: where do we go from here?

Nursing shortages within American hospitals are in part associated with problematic work environments. Scholarship related to work environments is multidisciplinary and has been conducted using traditional and constructivist approaches to science and knowledge development. Nursing research related to nurses' work environments in hospitals is often conceptualized around variables such as job satisfaction, professional practice environment, and job stress. Macro-level variables associated with political, economic, and social aspects of the work environment have received less attention. Philosophical issues are considered. Person-Environment Congruence Theory is proposed as a framework capable of addressing environmental incongruence in hospital nursing work environments. Implications for theory and research using the framework are described.