Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106499

Kate L. Lapane, PhD, Department of Gerontology, Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Box GB-222, Providence, RI 02912, (401) 863-9424, Kate_Lapane@Brown.edu

Presentation Abstract #2

Stressed to the Limit: Understanding Job Stressors and Quality of Communication Among Members of the Nursing Facility Health Care Team

15 minutes

This presentation reports on a survey of all health care providers in 52 nursing facilities regarding job satisfaction, stress, and communication at work. Pharmacists frequently reported stress due to too much work; yet felt underutilized. Sixty percent of nurses reported being stressed because there were not enough people to get the job done well. Nearly 1/3 of nursing assistants were stressed because of inadequate patient information. Less than half reported that nurses and CNAs contribute from their experience and expertise to come up with a high quality solution most or all of the time. Nearly 1/3 of respondents reported that disagreements between CNAs and nurses were ignored by management most of the time. Physicians viewed the quality of physician-pharmacist communication much higher than pharmacists. The ramifications of these data in light of implementing feasible, sustainable pharmaceutical care interventions in US nursing facilities will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the attendee will be able to

• State why long-term care pharmacists report job-related stress;
• Identify the most common reasons nursing facility staff report job-related stress;
• Describe the role of job satisfaction, work stressors, and communication among health care providers and their impact on patient safety.

Keywords: Drug Safety, Nursing Homes

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.