Measuring Nurses' Practice Environments with the Revised Nursing Work Index: Evidence from Registered Nurses in the Veterans Health Administration

The Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R) is a widely used instrument for evaluating registered nurses' (RNs) practice environments. The existence of multiple subscale sets from the NWI-R raises questions about its generalizability. We tested the validity of the one-, three-, and five-subscale sets from the NWI-R and derived a short-form subscale set using a sample of RNs from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The prior sets do not have an excellent fit to these data. Results of exploratory factor analyses suggested a four-factor model with Opportunity for Advancement, Collegial Nurse-Physician Relations, Staffing Adequacy, and Nurse Manager Leadership as the most salient and parsimonious solution. Additional research is needed to corroborate these findings in other nurse samples and settings.