Risk factors and impacts of occupational injury in healthcare workers: A critical review

Abstract

IntroductionThe high-risk, fast-paced healthcare industry presents unique health and safety challenges for healthcare personnel, including exposure to psychological and physical demands resulting in the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries of epidemic proportions. The dynamic healthcare environment demonstrates that workers are prone to injury through a host of factors unique to them being directly involved in patient care. Just as heredity and environment interact to result in disease, no single risk factor is responsible for injury but rather a complex interaction of worker, patient, and hospital characteristics. This critical review reports the risk factors and impact of musculoskeletal injuries, with consideration for how these factors impact the worker, quality of care, and patient outcomes. The intent of this critical review is to summarize current literature, identify gaps in research, and broaden the questions that are asked as the efforts to reduce occupational injury move forward, not to provide definitive risk factors and impacts for occupational injury. ConclusionThe risk factors of occupational injury are well documented; less understood is the impact of elevated incidence of occupational injury on patient safety. Nursing injury rates are linked to nursing shortages and less nursing time at the bedside, both of which have been scientifically linked to negative patient outcomes. Further investigation is needed in this area not only due to the pain and suffering experienced by those directly affected, but also because of the organizational impacts that indirectly affect patient care. The benefit of this research is to reveal the integral role the individual worker plays in patient outcomes, despite the quality of care they provide, a finding that could dramatically change strategic priorities to deliver exemplary patient care and ensure the health and safety of workers, patients, and the public.

The associations of workload, individual and organisational factors on nurses’ occupational injuries

“…This trend is similar to the findings of Mogale, Malangu, and Huma's () which reported that 73% of the healthcare providers in South Africa, in which STFIs had happened, were women (Mogale et al., ). In other studies, this proportion reached 80% (Miller, ; Yeoh, Lockhart, & Wu, ). However, most healthcare providers in different countries are women and this can explain the high proportion of women involved.…”

Association Between the Organization and Environmental Factors and Work Injuries Among Home Health Care Nurses

“…There has been a scant amount of research focusing on workplace safety in home health care and particularly when it comes to examining the linkages between nursing and safety. Furthermore, the published studies provide insufficient information in terms of examining the view of nurses on HHC safety (Balize et al, 2012;Miller, 2013). This represents a legitimate gap in the existing literature.…”

Home-Based Direct Care Workers

“…Other factors, any attribute or characteristic of exposure (individual, organizational, or environmental), can increase home-based DCWs’ risk of experiencing work-related injuries (Gropelli & Corle, 2011; Miller, 2013). Worker-specific risk factors for occupational injury include workers’ demographics, including their socioeconomic characteristics and work-related skills and knowledge (Oliver, Cheyne, Tomas, & Cox, 2002).…”