The relationship between work environment and career success among nurses with a master's or doctoral degree: A national cross-sectional study

Aims To investigate the career success and work environment among nurses with a master's or doctoral degree and analyse the effect of work environment on their career success. Methods This was a national descriptive, cross-sectional study. A total of 1223 nurses with a master's or doctoral degree from 115 tertiary hospitals across mainland China participated in the study. Subscales of the practice environment scale of the nursing work index and career success scale were utilized for data collection via email in the summer of 2017. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the collected data. Results The research showed that the career success and work environment ratings of nurses with a master's or doctoral degree were at a moderate level. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that work environment was positively correlated with career success for three of the four subscales. Conclusion The career success and work environment is moderate among nurses with a master's or doctoral degree, and improving the work environment for nurses may lead to higher career success.