Health-care sector

Body mass index scores are slightly higher among female nurses working night shifts (or a mix of day, evening and night shifts) than among those working regular day shifts, according to a recent study from the Institute for Work & Health. But we don’t yet know if this difference is important.

Published: April 2013

Two important factors associated with how long Canadian female nurses stay off of work due to musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) are the level of pain and the extent to which pain interferes with job duties.

Published: January 2013

A team of researchers from the Institute for Work & Health evaluated an organizational change plan to reduce work disability within an acute-care hospital in Ontario. What it learned will be instructive to similar hospitals in the province and beyond.

Status: Completed 2016

Creating non-violent and supportive health-care workplaces might help prevent prolonged work absences among nurses. This is the upshot of a new study from the Institute for Work & Health.

Published: October 2011

More than 60,000 full-time equivalent workers are employed in the long-term care sector in Ontario and more than 14,000 in British Columbia. How do the rates and nature of their workplace injuries compare? How do experience rating programs and other policy initiatives in the two provinces influence injury prevention and disability management practices within their respective long-term care sectors? Answers to these questions are starting to emerge from a study examining trends in workers' compensation claim activity and benefit expenditures for work-related health conditions among employees in the long-term care sectors in British Columbia and Ontario from 1998-2007. IWH President and Senior Scientist Dr. Cam Mustard will discuss the preliminary findings of this two-year study, which is now at its mid-point.

Published: December 2010

There is some evidence that modified work for injured workers in Ontario’s long-term care sector was associated with a lower burden of disability, according to an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) study.

Published: October 2010

Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, June 2010

Nursing is a profession that is at high risk for injuries. The successful return of nurses to their pre-injury role is essential given the global nursing shortage. This study sought to describe the return-to-work processes in southern Ontario hospitals through the experiences of injured registered nurses (IRN). The purpose of the study is to describe with a sample IRNs and others involved in hospital injury management how return to work happens in hospitals. This research employed institutional ethnography as the approach to examine the topic. Participants in this study included a convenience sample of six IRNs and 22 others involved in hospital injury management practices. Most IRNs interviewed in this study were unable to return to work. Hospitals faced challenges in finding accommodated work for IRNs given organizational commitments to patient safety and fiscal efficiency. The findings afford new insights and can inform hospital injury management practices used with registered nurses.

Published: April 2010

Multi-component patient handling interventions can improve musculoskeletal health among health-care workers, including: a policy change at the worksite; implementation of new lift/transfer equipment; and broad-based training on the new equipment.

Published: January 2010

What worker or workplace factors are linked to musculoskeletal or mental health problems among nurses and support staff? This study of 21,000 health-care workers points to heavy workloads among the most important factors.

Published: January 2009