The associations of occupational hazards and injuries with work environments and overtime for nurses in China

Abstract

Occupational hazards (OHs) and occupational injuries (OIs) may contribute to nurses needing sick time and to a high financial burden for hospitals. There is little published literature about nurse-reported OHs/OIs and their relationships with work environments and working overtime in China. This study was designed to describe Chinese hospital registered nurses' OHs/OIs and to explore the associations between work environments, working overtime, and nurse-reported OHs/OIs. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangdong province in China in 2014. The sample included 1,517 nurses from 111 medical/surgical units in 23 hospitals. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index was used to measure work environment. Overtime was calculated by subtracting scheduled work hours from actual work hours. Six items were used to measure nurse-reported OHs/OIs. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and two-level logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. The percentages of nurses reporting OHs/OIs occurred in the year before the survey ranged from 47% to 80%. Nurses who worked in good (vs. poor) unit work environments were less likely to experience OHs/OIs (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.65-0.68, p < .05). Nurses who worked overtime (OR = 1.19-1.33, p < .05) and in Level 3 (largest) hospitals (OR = 1.45-1.80, p < .05) were more likely to experience OHs/OIs. We found that OHs/OIs were prevalent among hospital nurses in China. Better work environment and less nurse overtime were associated with fewer nurse OHs/OIs.

Impact of nurse staffing on intent to leave, job satisfaction, and occupational injuries in Korean hospitals: A cross‐sectional study

“…It is important to emphasize that nurses who worked voluntary overtime were found to have a higher likelihood of occupational injuries than those who did not, indicating substantial exposure to potential injuries. Several studies have also reported that working overtime significantly increased the risk of injuries in nurses (Stimpfel, Brewer, & Kovner, 2015;Unruh & Asi, 2018;Wu et al, 2018 working more voluntary overtime had higher levels of job satisfaction, but they also had higher levels of occupational injuries. Therefore, it is important to monitor both their work hours and overtime and then implement managerial strategies to prevent such occupational injuries.…”

The impact of work environment on workplace violence, burnout and work attitudes for hospital nurses: A structural equation modelling analysis

“…Our results add evidence to the importance of building a supportive work environment for improving nurses' work attitudes. Another published article using data from this survey reported that the lowest score dimensions of work environment were "nurse staffing and resource adequacy" and "nurse participation in hospital affairs" (Wu et al, ). Thus, building a supportive work environment by allocating adequate nursing workforce and resources and enhancing nurses' role in hospital management is a potential strategy to promote nurses' positive work attitude and ultimately to stabilize the nursing workforce.…”

Workplace bullying, psychological hardiness, and accidents and injuries in nursing: A moderated mediation model

“…However, there is inconclusive of the association of psychological stress with workplace accidents and injuries [10,11]. Therefore, more attention is needed to enhance the workplace safety of nurses [12].…”