Organization of work (OOW) refers to management and supervisory practices as well as production processes and their influence on the way work is performed. Few industries in the U.S. have undergone more sweeping changes over the past decade than the health care industry. Macro-level changes in the organization of health care delivery have included mergers, downsizing, changes in employment arrangements such as contract work, job restructuring and redesign. Many, if not all, of these changes have accompanied the movement to managed care, and most have grown out of a desire to control health care costs. A multi-stage sampling method was used to obtain a randomly selected sample of nurses from licensure lists in two U.S. states. Completed surveys were returned from 1428 actively licensed RNs in two states, Illinois and New York. The sample was largely female (93%) and Caucasian (93%). Two thirds were employed as staff nurse and more than half (57.5%) worked in the hospital setting. Over one-third of the RNs had extended work schedules: 37.4% worked longer than 8 hours/day with 32% working more than 40 hours/week. An analysis of the impact of these OOW factors on the relationship between physical work factors and MSDs will be presented.
Learning Objectives: · Define "Organization of Work" in terms of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) · List at least three organizational activities, which are thought to impact the organization of work in healthcare, and possibly impact health and safety of workers. · Suggest one possible organizational intervention to reduce musculoskeletal injuries in health care workers (HCW's)
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.