Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses Working in an Open Ward Stress and Work Satisfaction Me ´lanie Lavoie-Tremblay, PhD, RN; Nancy Feeley, PhD, RN; Genevie `ve L. Lavigne, PhD; Christine Genest, PhD, RN; Ste ´phanie Robins, MSc; Julie Fre ´chette, MSc, (HR) RN, CHRP, CEC There is some research on the impact of open-ward unit design on the health of babies and the stress experienced by parents and nurses in neonatal intensive care units. However, few studies have explored the factors associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction among nurses prac- ticing in open-ward neonatal intensive care units. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors are associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction among nurses practicing in an open- ward neonatal intensive care unit. A cross-sectional correlational design was used in this study. Participants were nurses employed in a 34-bed open-ward neonatal intensive care unit in a major university-affiliated hospital in Montre ´al, Quebec, Canada. A total of 94 nurses were eligible, and 86 completed questionnaires (91% response rate). Descriptive statistics were computed to de- scribe the participants’ characteristics. To identify factors associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction, correlational analysis and multiple regression analyses were performed with the Nurse Stress Scale and the Global Work Satisfaction scores as the dependent variables. Different factors predict neonatal intensive care unit nurses’ stress and job satisfaction, including support, family-centered care, performance obstacles, work schedule, education, and employment status. In order to provide neonatal intensive care units nurses with a supportive environment, managers can provide direct social support to nurses and influence the culture around teamwork. Key words: NICU, nurse stress, open-ward design, work satisfaction N EONATAL INTENSIVE CARE is necessary for infants who are medically unstable or critically ill and require constant nursing care, complicated medical procedures, respiratory support, or other intensive interventions. There are 2 main designs of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs): open ward (OW, most common in the past) and single patient rooms (SPRs). Certain NICUs also present a combination de- sign including features of both the OW and the SPRs. Some research has been published on the impact of the OW unit design on the health of babies and the stress experienced by parents and nurses. 1 However, few studies have ex- plored the factors associated with nurse stress and work satisfaction among nurses practicing in OW NICUs. In addition, most studies are limited by their use of measures that are not valid or reliable. BACKGROUND Neonatal intensive care units first appeared in hospitals in the 1940s. In Canada in 2010, preterm births accounted for 7.7% of live births. 2 In 2011, 14 661 infants were admit- ted to the 30-member NICUs of The Canadian Neonatal Network. 3 Infants born preterm (<32 weeks) and/or low (<2500 g) or very low The Health Care Manager Volume 35, Number 3, pp. 206–216 Copyright # 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. Author Affiliations: Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University (Drs Lavoie-Tremblay, Feeley, and Lavigne, and Ms J. Fre ´chette), Faculty of Nursing, University of Montreal (Dr Genest), and Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital (Ms Robins), Montreal, Quebec, Canada. N.F. is supported by a Research Scholar Career Award from the Fonds de recherche du Que ´bec-Sante ´. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Me´lanie Lavoie-Tremblay, PhD, RN (melanie.lavoie-tremblay@mcgill.ca) DOI: 10.1097/HCM.0000000000000122 206 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.