Workplace Health & Safety最新文献

Background: The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) prioritizes research and professional development in occupational and environmental health nursing (OEHN) as part of its mission to promote workplace and community health and safety. The AAOHN Foundation plays a critical role in advancing this mission by administering grants and scholarships that empower occupational health nurses (OHNs) to pursue education, research, leadership roles, and professional development within the specialty. These opportunities help keep nurses in the workforce by offering a flexible career path through OEHN. This supports long-term careers and work-life balance, contributing to the stability and growth of the profession. Many resources and financial opportunities remain underutilized due to common barriers, such as lack of awareness about available grants, endowments and scholarships, uncertainty about the application process, and lack of confidence in navigating the process.

Methods: This article addresses these challenges by providing OHNs with practical tools and best practices, including updates on available funding opportunities, grant-writing tips, approaches to build self-assurance, and strategies to navigate applications successfully.

Conclusions/application to practice: By fostering awareness of these resources and utilization of the AAOHN Foundation funding opportunities, OHNs can enhance workplace safety, promote public health, and drive innovation and growth within OEHN. Strengthening individual professional development as OHNs and healthcare providers, researchers, and leaders ultimately amplifies the collective impact of the OEHN community, ensuring its continuing evolution and meaningful contributions to the field.

Background: Nurse suicide, a complex occupational health concern, is urgently in need of research due to the personal and occupational suicide risk factors experienced by nurses, namely mental health problems (e.g., depression), job problems, and substance misuse. Therefore, the study aims were to determine the contextual characteristics and circumstantial factors associated with nurse suicide in Kentucky. Methods: Secondary suicide data were obtained from the Kentucky Violent Death Reporting System (KYVDRS) from 2005 to 2019. Nurse suicide cases were identified using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification. A mixed-methods analysis using descriptive statistics and qualitative evaluation was conducted to determine the distributions of demographic, injury, and weapon characteristics, followed by a qualitative analysis of the KYVDRS incident narrative text of nurse suicide decedents. Results: There were 88 decedents identified with a nursing occupation. The predominant means of death for male (59%) and female (45%) nurses involved firearms. Thematic analysis showed nurse decedents experienced a mental health problem (51%) and premeditated (50%) suicide preceding death. Incidentally, 51% of all cases experienced multiple circumstantial factors (e.g., relationship problems and premeditation) preceding their death by suicide. Discussion/Application to Practice: Nurse suicide decedents experienced multifactorial risk factors preceding their death by suicide, namely depression, premeditated suicide, and relationship problems. Occupational health practitioners and health care organizations can implement individual and organizational prevention efforts to help prevent nurse suicide.

Breast cancer screening helps detect cancer at an early stage. Occupational health nurses must understand the importance of screening to deliver safe care. This article highlights the USPFTS (2024) guidelines on breast cancer screening for average-risk workers.

Background: With the increasing use of social media, social media addiction (SMA) has become a pressing issue and is associated with multiple negative outcomes. Lack of mindfulness has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of SMA, yet such an association has never been explored among nurses in China.

Methods: From December 4, 2022 to March 14, 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 29 hospitals in Hunan Province, China. A total of 1,141 nurses were recruited and completed the online questionnaires. Mindfulness and SMA were assessed by the Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS) and Social Networking Service Addiction Scale (SNSAS), respectively. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between mindfulness and SMA, and other influencing factors of SMA.

Results: The nurses had an average score of 68.02 ± 11.86 for mindfulness and 46.15 ± 15.09 for SMA. The results of linear regression analysis showed that lower levels of mindfulness (β = -0.06, p < .001), shorter working years (β = -0.21, p = .014), and experiencing more frequent workplace violence (β = 0.21, p =.007) were associated with an increased risk of SMA.

Conclusions/application to practice: Our study shows a generally moderate level of SMA among nurses in Hunan Province, which was influenced by mindfulness, working years, and workplace violence. Mindfulness-based interventions may be effective interventions to alleviate nurses' SMA. Special attention should also be paid to nurses with shorter working years and those who experienced workplace violence.

Background: Hotel housekeeping is widely recognized as a poor-quality job due to its high demands and limited resources. Hotel housekeepers (HHs) face both hard physical work and mentally demanding conditions, yet psychosocial factors in this feminized and precarious occupation remain under-researched. To address this gap, this study examines HHs' exposure to psychosocial factors at work and their impact on job stress and self-rated health.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 926 HHs in the Balearic Islands (Spain) assessed job stress, self-rated health, psychosocial factors (job demands and resources), and sociodemographic variables using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II (COPSOQ-II) and the National Health Survey. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical linear regression models were applied.

Results: The prevalence of job stress was 61.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [57.8%, 64.1%]), while the prevalence of poor self-rated health was 59.9% (95% CI = [56.6%, 62.9%]). Hotel housekeepers were highly exposed to job demands such as intense work pace, job-specific stressors, work-life conflict, and emotional demands; highly available job resources were role clarity, task meaning, and social support. Regression models revealed work pace, work-life conflict, nationality, and weak leader support as key predictors of job stress; and work-life conflict and leadership quality as key predictors of self-rated health.

Conclusion/application to practice: Although considered an eminently physical job, psychosocial work factors play a key role in explaining HHs' job stress and self-rated health. Occupational health professionals should design workplace interventions to reduce work pace, mitigate work-life conflict, and enhance resources such as leader support, sense of community, and leadership quality.

Background: This quality improvement project aimed to increase the screening rate for OSA in individuals aged 18 and above with obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥30).

Methods: This quality improvement study occurred from March 2023 to August 2023 using a two-independent pre-implementation post-implementation design. The STOP-Bang Questionnaire (SBQ) was implemented during annual exams, chronic disease management visits, and Department of Transportation (DOT) physicals.

Findings: There were 946 patients involved in the study, including 471 in the pre-implementation group and 475 in the post-implementation group. OSA screening increased from 14.1% to 71.6% after implementing the screening protocol in the general population and 26.7% to 90.4% in the commercial driver's license (CDL) holder population. Of the CDL holders screened in the pre-intervention group, 15 (65.2%) were at intermediate to high risk for OSA (SBQ ≥3), and in the post-intervention group, 33 (50%) had an SBQ score of ≥3.

Conclusions/application to practice: Standardized OSA screening is crucial because it is common but underdiagnosed. Screening for OSA during DOT exams promotes community safety. Earlier identification of at-risk patients leads to earlier diagnosis and treatment of OSA to prevent long-term complications, reduce healthcare costs, improve patient outcomes, and improve community safety.

Background: Occupational drivers are exposed to a wide range of risk factors, including sedentary behavior and physical inactivity, which can contribute to various chronic diseases. However, exercise interventions are likely to alleviate the negative associations and reduce chronic disease risks. This systematic review aimed to inventorize research studies investigating the effects of physical activity and exercise interventions on health outcomes in occupational drivers, and to assess interventions that have demonstrated effectiveness on health outcomes in occupational drivers.

Methods: The electronic databases "Web of Science," "Scopus," and "PubMed" were searched using keywords related to "occupational drivers," "exercise," and "health outcomes." Studies were included if they examined the effects of physical activity and exercise among occupational drivers on the following health outcomes: pain, disability, lifestyle factors (sleep, weight, physical activity, nutrition), fatigue, stress, and cardiometabolic risk factors. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed by the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools for randomized and non-randomized studies.

Results: Fourteen articles were included (three randomized and 11 non-randomized controlled trials). All studies were judged to have an overall risk of bias as "some concerns, low, moderate or serious." Evidence suggests that stretching and isometric exercises have significantly improved pain, disability, and fatigue. In contrast, multicomponent lifestyle interventions have enhanced physical activity levels, cardiometabolic risk factors, anthropometrics (body mass index, weight, waist circumference), sleep, and dietary intake among occupational drivers.

Conclusion: The available evidence indicates the potential benefits of exercise interventions and physical activity for health outcomes in occupational drivers. However, high-quality studies are needed in the future to establish stronger evidence supporting the effect of the exercise intervention.

Excessive noise exposure within the working population is a health concern that has received increased attention in recent years. Levels have been established by national organizations that reflect safe exposure, but many kinds of equipment used in the landscaping and groundskeeper industries still exceed them. While noise risks are often long-term in nature and occur with cumulative exposure, prevention and exposure methods can still be used by employers to protect their workers' long-term health. Recalling the hierarchy of controls established by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), various strategies can be implemented without creating excessive supervisory burden and with minimal costs. Occupational health nurses can further help reduce excessive noise exposure by encouraging the use of an easy-to-use noise-level assessment app created by NIOSH.

Adult-onset asthma, notably prevalent among healthcare professionals, especially nurses, is often attributed to occupational factors such as exposure to cleaning agents. Studies consistently underscore the substantial role of such exposure in work-related asthma among hospital staff. We aimed to (a) identify and characterize current practices in cleaning and aerosolized medication administration; (b) assess changes in practices since a similar 2003 study of Texas healthcare workers; and (c) identify factors contributing to diverse exposures within healthcare job categories. We conducted focus groups with 38 participants in 6 healthcare settings, analyzing current practices, changes since 2003, and factors contributing to exposure diversity. We used a three-step approach for data analysis, including sociodemographic characterization, a scissor-and-sort technique for exposure description, and qualitative content analysis. Participants were primarily healthcare providers (76%) and housekeepers/cleaners (11%) who reported exposure to aerosolized medications, cleaning products, adhesives, and solvents. Participants reported transitioning from cleaning practices to new formulas with reduced odors and shifting from spray cleansers to wipes. Personal protective equipment (PPE) used during cleaning tasks varied, with training differing among job categories. Aerosolized medication administration varied among facilities, with reported medication types and protocol changes over time. The results emphasized the significance of maintaining uniform protection, disseminating knowledge, and consistently adhering to PPE protocols in the healthcare environment. Addressing the identified gaps in comprehension and potential sources of exposure variability requires additional focus on occupational health and safety initiatives.