Technological and environmental characteristics of intensive care units. Implications for job redesign.

Nurse executives are experiencing severe pressures to create systems of care delivery that provide services in more cost-conscious ways. Before care systems can be restructured, a systematic assessment of the work and the environment of the nursing unit must take place. This study found significant differences among nine intensive care units regarding both the nature of their work and their environments. These differences provided information that can be used in staffing decisions, nurse/physician interaction, and staff nurse and managerial recruitment.