Sample/Methods:
Nurses working on selected units in a sample of acute care, complex continuing care, long-term care, and homecare settings in Ontario were surveyed to obtain data on selected nurse staffing and nursing worklife variables.  Data were collected from a random sample of 451 nursing personnel (e.g., RN, LPNs, HCAs) over a 6 month period in 2004 and 2005 from across these sectors. Secondary data were also collected from unit managers.

 Results:
The study demonstrated that it is feasible to collect these data, but there may be limitations for developing an overall or global measure of the nursing work environment. This emphasizes the need to study the individual work environment indicators in greater depth to determine their unique role in contributing to patient and nurse outcomes.

 Conclusions:
The potential for linking nurse staffing, work environment and patient outcomes data is evidenced in this study. Recommendations from this presentation will extend our understanding of the indicators of the quality of nurses' worklife.

 Implications:
The objectives of the study have been achieved and resulted in an understanding of how frequently measures of nurses’ worklife need to be obtained for inclusion in this database.