Occupational injuries among aides and nurses in acute care

Background Occupational injuries are common among nursing personnel. Most epidemiologic research on nursing aides comes from long‐term care settings. Reports from acute care settings often combine data on nurses and aides even though their job requirements and personal characteristics are quite diff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of industrial medicine 2009-12, Vol.52 (12), p.953-964
Main Authors: Rodríguez-Acosta, R.L., Richardson, D.B., Lipscomb, H.J., Chen, J.C., Dement, J.M., Myers, D.J., Loomis, D.P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Occupational - statistics & numerical data
acute care setting
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health participants
healthcare workers
Humans
injury risk
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Moving and Lifting Patients - adverse effects
North Carolina
nurse's aides
Nurses' Aides - statistics & numerical data
Nursing Care - statistics & numerical data
Nursing Staff, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
occupational injuries
Poisson Distribution
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Retrospective Studies
Risk
Risk Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Safety Management
Sick Leave - statistics & numerical data
Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Background Occupational injuries are common among nursing personnel. Most epidemiologic research on nursing aides comes from long‐term care settings. Reports from acute care settings often combine data on nurses and aides even though their job requirements and personal characteristics are quite different. Our objective was to assess risk of work‐related injuries in an acute care setting while contrasting injuries of aides and nurses. Methods A retrospective cohort of aides (n = 1,689) and nurses (n = 5,082) working in acute care at a large healthcare system between 1997 and 2004 were identified via personnel records. Workers' compensation filings were used to ascertain occupational injuries. Poisson regression was used to estimate rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results Aides had higher overall injury rates than nurses for no‐lost work time (RR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1–1.3) and lost work time (RR = 2.8, 95% CI: 2.1–3.8) injuries. The risk of an injury due to lifting was greater among aides compared to nurses for both non‐lost work time and lost work time injuries. Injury rates among aides were particularly high in rehabilitation and orthopedics units. Most of the injuries requiring time away from work for both groups were related to the process of delivering direct patient care. Conclusions Our findings illustrate the importance of evaluating work‐related injuries separately for aides and nurses, given differences in injury risk profiles and injury outcomes. It is particularly important that occupational safety needs of aides be addressed as this occupation experiences significant job growth. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:953–964, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0271-3586
1097-0274
DOI:10.1002/ajim.20762