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

Abstract #121947

Harriet Rubenstein, MPH, Health Professionals and Allied Employees, AFT, AFL-CIO, 110 Kinderkamack Road, Emerson, NJ 07630, 210 262-5001, hrubenstein@dca.net

Hospitals can be dangerous places to work. Nurses and other health care workers face an array of workplace hazards, including disabling back injuries from lifting and transferring patients; physical and verbal assaults by patients and visitors; infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis from needlesticks; and exposure to tuberculosis. In NJ, the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses for hospital workers is over twice that for other workers in the service sector. Nurses report that unsafe working conditions interfere with their ability to deliver quality care and contribute to their decision to leave the bedside and even the profession, exacerbating staffing shortages. At the same time, the “culture” of nursing and other health professions puts the needs of the patient first, and discourages health care workers from demanding safe working conditions.

This presentation will review the findings of a recent survey of HPAE members in New Jersey and describe the health and safety campaign that has emerged in response to the survey. The campaign includes the development of a statewide health and safety task force and local committees, training and education, contract language and legislative initiatives.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, the participant will be able to

• Describe the role a health and safety survey of union members can play in efforts to both learn about members' concerns and raise their awareness of workplace health and safety as a right.
• Decsribe the relationships among health care worker safety, patient safety, and health care worker shortages.
• Outline one union's multi-faceted campaign to improve health and safety conditions for its members.

Keywords: Occupational Health,

Related Web page: www.hpae.org

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.

Recorded presentation