Transforming nursing work environments: the impact of organizational culture on work-related stress among nurses: a systematic review

Background: Creating a healthy and conducive nursing work environment is a universal global nursing concern. Work-Related Stress, global nursing and a public health problem that has continued to bedevil the world healthcare systems is of a particular interest. It has not only compromised the quality of patient care but also negatively impacted nurses' quality of work life and adversely affected global healthcare management. Organizational culture is an important determinant of nurses' work-related stress, yet it remains systematically under-researched. Despite a plethora of research on work-related stress in nursing environments, there are few dedicated systematic literature reviews, and this study aimed to fill this gap.

Objective: To determine the scientific evidence in the literature, on the impact of organizational culture on work-related stress among nurses and provide valuable insights to mitigation of work-related stress among nurses.

Design: A Systematic literature review.

Methods: The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in major electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Ovid Medline, Embase and CINAHL in July 2023. Studies that met the inclusion criteria set were screened using Rayyan and Covidence. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the quality and risk of bias.

Results: The search generated a total of 2,113 records, and 13 were included. Thematic analysis generated three main themes: types of organizational culture, organizational climate, and organizational politics, each with distinct effects on nurses' work-related stress. We found overall that, positive organizational culture, positive organizational climate and positive organizational politics were consistently associated with nurse's happiness and joy at the workplace and lower levels of work-related stress while negative organizational culture, climate and politics were strongly associated with nurses' work-related stress.

Conclusions: This review underscores the crucial role of organizational culture in nursing work environments and its impact on nurses' stress levels, offering valuable insights for the mitigation of work-related stress and the transformation of the nursing profession.