The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) includes “Organization of Work” in its priority research areas. Research on how the organization of work is changing, the safety and health implications of those changes and intervention effectiveness studies are considered needed by the NORA Organization of Work team. Few industries in the U.S. have undergone more sweeping changes over the past decade than the health care industry. Furthermore, national statistics reflect a high prevalence of occupational illness and injury in healthcare workers.
A panel dedicated to the dissemination and discussion of studies looking at the impact of organization of work in healthcare is proposed. 1) Impact of Work Organization on Physical Work Factors and Musculoskeletal Disease Outcomes, a study of randomly sampled registered nurses (n=1428) from two States will be presented. 2)Results of an on-line Survey of R.N.’s with information about current working conditions including mandatory overtime, staffing issues and other organizational variables will be presented. 3)Nursing Home Ownership Type and Mental Health Outcomes in Nursing Home Workers will examine the association between ownership factors and worker mental health. Finally,4) Organizational Factors Associated with a Successful Participatory Ergonomics Program will report on a pilot project examining organizational factors associated with increased use of transfer devices in a nursing home. This panel represents researchers from one institution and their collaborators reporting on current studies in this dynamic and emerging field.
Learning Objectives: 1. Define organization of work. 2. List three measureable work organiation variables in healthcare. 3. Describe the evidence for one adverse health outcome and its association with work organization factors.
Keywords: Health Care Workers, Occupational Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.