AACN standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments: a journey to excellence.

© 2005, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. All rights reserved. The complete standards document is available for download at www.aacn.org. Acute and critical care nurses repeatedly voice grave concern and moral distress about the deterioration of healthcare work environments in the United States. The following cases in point represent countless similar incidents occurring in American hospitals each day, showing the devastating impact of unhealthy work environments on the effectiveness of the American healthcare system.

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