Cause for concern: nurses' reports of hospital care in five countries.

According to most experts, the U.S. faces a growing shortage of registered nurses, threatening the quality of care hospitals can provide. In the setting of nurse shortages and simultaneous concern about patient safety, nurses' job satisfaction and their assessment of quality of care become critical. This Issue Brief highlights a cross-national survey that describes nurses' perceptions of their hospital work environment, and identifies core problems in work design and workforce management in five countries.