Work-Related Disability in Canadian Nurses

• Published in: Journal of nursing scholarship Vol. 36; no. 4; pp. 352 - 357
• Main Authors: O'Brien-Pallas, Linda, Shamian, Judith, Thomson, Donna, Alksnis, Christine, Koehoorn, Mieke, Kerr, Michael, Bruce, Shirliana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 350 Main Street , Malden , MA 02148 , USA , and 9600 Garsington Road , Oxford OX4 2DQ , UK Blackwell Science Inc 01.01.2004; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Absenteeism; Adult; Aged; Burnout, Professional - epidemiology; Burnout, Professional - etiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disabled Persons - statistics & numerical data; Health Status; Hospitals; Humans; Illnesses; Injuries; Insurance Claim Reporting - statistics & numerical data; Logistic Models; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal Diseases - epidemiology; Musculoskeletal Diseases - etiology; nurse-physician relationships; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing Administration Research; Nursing Staff, Hospital - organization & administration; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - etiology; Occupational Health - statistics & numerical data; occupational injuries; Occupational stress; Ontario - epidemiology; personnel management; personnel staffing and scheduling; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling - statistics & numerical data; Personnel Turnover - statistics & numerical data; Regression analysis; Risk Factors; Workers compensation; Workers' Compensation - statistics & numerical data; Workforce planning; workload; Workload - statistics & numerical data; Workloads; Workplace - organization & administration; Ontario; Ontario Canada; Canada
• ISSN: 1527-6546; 1547-5069
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2004.04063.x

Purpose : To determine factors contributing to high registered nurse (RN) injury claim rates in Canadian hospitals. Design : Cross‐sectional study of secondary 1998‐99 data for RNs (N = 8,044) in Ontario, Canada, linked at the hospital level (n = 127). Methods : Descriptive statistics, correlations, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results : The odds of a high RN lost‐time claim rate increased by 70% for each quartile increase in the percentage of RNs reporting more than 1 hour of overtime per week. The odds of a high RN musculoskeletal lost‐time claim rate decreased by 64% for every one unit increase in the hospital‐level score on the nurse‐physician relationship subscale. Conclusions : To retain and optimize scarce hospital nursing resources, strategies to address overtime, sick time, and nurse‐physician relationships might provide fiscal and human benefits.