Occupational health hazards are recognized as global problems for health care workers and especially among the nurses as they are often the first health care provider. The role of the occupational health nurse occupational health nurses ohns play a dynamic role in the maintenance of workplace health and safety. Loss of skilled health personnel will adversely affect healthcare services which are already suboptimal in developing countries such as nigeria. In june, the occupational safety and health administration osha announced it was targeting some of the most common causes of workplace injury. This study aims to analyze the occupational health hazards among nursing staff at quena. Occupational hygiene is focused entirely on the hazards in the workplace whereas occupational health is more personcentered protecting workers from.
Occupational injuries and illnesses increase psychological distress and job dissatisfaction often leading to increased turnover which further aggravates the nursing shortage and exacerbates nursing workforce issues. Physical, chemical, and biological stressors will appear in the juy issue ofthe mohn journal. Physical, chemical, and biological stressors by pamela klauer triolo. Occupational health and safety risk in public hospitals. Department of health, education, and welfare, public health service, center for disease control, national institute for occupational safety and health, dhew niosh publication no. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 39, 141 147. Out of the 296 valid responses from the two hospitals, it was found that 87% of them said they are aware of occupational health hazards at their workplaces and that working in a psychiatric hospital was more risky than other healthcare facilities. As such, occupational hazards can be reduced by implementing number of programs such as. Occupational hazards for nurses hospital jobs online. Occupational health nursing practice standards this document describes occupational health nursing practice standards required for providing quality occupational health nursing care. Table 2 showed the knowledge of respondents on occupational hazards and safety. The american board for occupational health nurses abohn certifies occupational health nurses at the proficient level of practice, using dr. Almost all successful systems include six core elements.
Some of the principle occupational hazards and risks within selected hospital departments. Occupational hazards in hospital departments health and. This study showed that there was high degree of awareness regarding occupational health hazards among the staff nurses at tertiary care hospital keywords. Occupational health nurses use washing, disinfecting, and sterilizing. The main finding is that public hospital staff face unnecessary risks while at work. Key words used included occupational hazards to healthcare workers, hospital hazards, industrial hygiene control measures hospitals, as well as specific wellknown hospital hazards such as ethylene oxide, glutaraldehyde, antineoplastic drugs, needlestick injuries, ionizing radiation, and safe patient handling. Benners framework, which was published in 1984, for addressing nurses at various stages of professional growth. Occupational health hazards of hospital staff nurses part ii. Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices regarding. A descriptive crosssectional study was carried out with 26 nurses and 96 nursing technicians from a public hospital in the federal district, brazil.
She and her colleagues are also required to complete annual training in occupational health and injury policy compliance. Possible underlying causes of these hazards and risks. Occupational health nursing aims at securing the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce. All the aforementioned can threaten health of personnel in health care centers. Physical and environmental hazards commonly found in hospitals include slippery floors, electrical hazards, noise, poor lighting, and inadequate ventilation. Organizations representing hospital workers, including afscme, have long urged osha to approve a standard to regulate occupational exposure to tuberculosis. A brief history of occupational health occupational health is focused predominantly on work and potential health concerns, whereas health and safety is concerned with potential safety hazards. Knowledge of respondents on occupational hazards in health care facilities.
To assess the occupational health hazards faced by healthcare workers and the mitigation measures. Occupational health hazards of hospital staff nurses. Staff awareness and experiences of occupational health hazards. Methods the staffs recruited were from advanced centre for treatment. The occupational safety and health administration osha is a government agency that works to ensure that there are safe and healthy working conditions for the u. Worker safety in your hospital occupational safety and. Knowledge and practices of nursing workers on occupational risks. Occupational health and safety issues among nurses in the. This audit assessed the effectiveness of managing occupational health and safety risk in public hospitals. List of occupational hazards in the operating room. The aim of the study was to examine the existing knowledge, attitude and practices of the nursing staff regarding occupational hazards and in kerbala teaching hospitals. Controlling theresa gorman jonathan dropkin health jacob. Pdf occupational health hazards among healthcare workers.
Studies on occupational hazards are developed mostly in the hospital setting, mainly. Occupational hazard datasheets nurse, occupational health ilo. A safety and health management system also known as an injury. Describing the extent of musculoskeletal injury in nurses. Psychosocial hazards or stressors and their outcomes were dis cussed in occupational health haz ards of hospital staff nurses, part i. It is evidently affecting the health of the nurses.
Occupational health hazards, many of which are avoidable and preventable while others are inevitable, being parts of the everyday duties. Physical occupational stressors for nurses include environmental haz ards such as poor ventilation, noise, heat, poor lighting, ionizing radia tion, etc. This study analyzed occupational health hazards for intensive care unit icu nurses and nursing technicians, comparing differences in the number and types of hazards which occur at the beginning and end of their careers. Occupational health, hazards, awareness, staff nurses. Assessment of occupational health safety and hazard. Occupational health hazards for registered nurses within the hos pital environment can be of a psycho social, physical, chemical, or biological nature.
Exposure to stress centers for disease control and. The category of occupational health hazards reported most were the physical health hazards. Related health and safety authority documents which provide information on best practice with regard to these particular hazards. Nurses continue to report high levels of jobrelated injury and illness. Occupational health hazards among healthcare workers in. A brief history of occupational health health management. Health and wellbeing of employees in the work place are important. The role of the occupational health nurse in workplace.
Osha had proposed a rule to prevent occupational exposure to tuberculosis, but withdrew it in 2003 citing a decline in tuberculosis cases and satisfaction with the cdcs voluntary guidelines. Occupational health hazards put hcws at risk of increased morbidity and mortality. Nurses also face health hazards such as hepatitis b, acquired. Eightynine percent 258 of respondents had knowledge on the possible hazards in the hcfs while 70 % 202 respondents had knowledge that recapping used needles after use negates the recommendation in the. If you work as part of a surgical team, its essential that you. Occupational health a manual for primary health care workers world health organization regional office for the eastern mediterranean whoemoch85el. Some common occupational hazards that nurses might face are listed here. The multiplying effects of occupational injuries and diseases among health workers include. To suggest corrective actions to avoid major occupational hazards in the hospital. It was found that staff who worked for more years on the ward had higher likelihood of exposure to occupational health hazards than those who worked for lesser years p0. Awareness of occupational health hazards among staff nurses. Protecting human health against health and safety hazards occurring in the work environment.
Occupational health hazards, many of which are avoidable and preventable while others. To identify nurses knowledge and practices about the occupational risks found in the. Work conditions of health professionals are quite challenging in some regions. We conducted a crosssectional study utilizing quantitative data collection methods among 200 respondents who worked in 8 major health facilities in kampala. At letsholathebe ii memorial hospital in maun, nurses and other health professionals face occupational health and safety risks at the workplace. Given the hazards, concerns, and working conditions that nurses in the philippines report, advocacy is needed at the national and organizational levels for the enforcement of occupational health and safety policies. Occupational risks of health professionals intechopen.
Aim and objectives the aim of the study was to identify the occupational health hazards encountered by nurses at letsholathebe ii memorial hospital in maun, botswana. Exposure to stress occupational hazards in hospitals. As a result, the occupational health nurse is exposed to many. In addition to other programs that include preplacement examinations, safety awareness, health maintenance, investigation of accidents stress management, health promotion. Surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, assistants and other professionals working in surgical environments put themselves at risk every day in their careers. The hospital provides safe needle devices and red sharps boxes in all units and requires employees who are injured on the job or experiencing pain to be assessed by the hospitals department of occupational health services. Additionally, occupational health nurses can identify priority areas for research. Challenges faced by nurses in indiathe major workforce of. Occupational health hazards of hospital staff nurses part. Stressrelatedsymptoms in business and industrycontributeto absenteeism and lost productivity.
Surgery has the ability to save lives, but a number of hazards lurking in operating rooms. Health service is an important work area which can lead to important risks related to health and safety of employees. As members of the nursing profession, occupational health nurses ohns strive to ensure a high caliber of service and are accountable for their practice. Spontaneous abortions and malformations in the offspring of nurses exposed to anesthetic gases, cytotoxic drugs, and other potential hazards in hospitals, based on registered information of outcome. The vast majority of nurses experience persistent jobrelated pain. Coordinating the delivery of equitable, comprehensive, quality occupational health services to individuals and groups in the work environment are the primary roles of these nurses cohna, 20. More needs to be done by the boards of public hospitals in their role as employers, worksafe in. Working environment, responsibilities, and duties of nurses put them in the frontline of numerous occupational hazards. Staffnurses, because of theirclose clientcontact, typically experience sensoryoverload.
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