Physical Assault Among Nursing Staff Employed in Acute Care

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen JC ; Dement, John M. ; Lipscomb HJ ; Myers DJ ; Richardson DB ; Rodríguez-Acosta RL
• Description:
  Hospital workers are known to be at risk of physical assault. The objective of this study is to characterize injuries resulting from physical assault among hospital nursing staff and to identify associated risk factors. Workers' compensation reports linked to human resources data were used to identify a cohort of aides and nurses employed in acute care units at a major healthcare system from 1997 to 2004 and their reported physical assault events. Poisson regression methods were used to estimate rates and rate ratios (RR) by occupation, gender, race, age, tenure, and hospital unit. During the study period 220 assaults were reported; the overall incidence rate was 1.65 (95% CI: 1.45-1.89) per 100 full-time-equivalent employees (FTEs). Assault risk was higher among those with shorter tenure (< 5 years vs. 15 or more) (RR=1.35, 95% CI: 0.83-2.19) and younger workers (under age 30 vs. 50 or older) (RR=1.30, 95% CI: 0.78-2.19), and lower among Black workers (vs. non-Blacks) (RR=0.63, 95% CI: 0.45-0.90). Incidence rates were highest in Psychiatry (12.65, 95% CI: 8.90-17.99), Neurology (4.43, 95% CI: 3.17-6.20) and Rehabilitation (3.63, 95% CI: 1.51-8.71) units. Interventions targeting Psychiatry, Neurology, and Rehabilitation units, and younger and newly hired staff are warranted. More detailed data are needed to develop targeted interventions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Epidemiology Genetics Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Race Factors Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Acute Care Age-factors Author Keywords: Physical Assault Cohort Studies Genetic-factors Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Injuries Injury-prevention Mathematical-models Medical-personnel Nurse Aides Nurses Nursing Occupational-accidents Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupations Poisson Regression Racial-factors Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Surveillance Work-environment Work-performance Work-practices Workers' Compensation Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1051-9815
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  191-200
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036836
• Citation:
  Work 2010 Feb; 35(2):191-200
• Contact Point Address:
  Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20051002
• Source Full Name:
  Work
• End Date:
  20071231
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1af1cd066def633495b9e21d276cd7327388ba8804a98831db8cd00c2215200136129bc11a5b63a04f386cdf91b31dbbe10e9af681dbc5a6189b2e0c6fc15585
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188091/cdc_188091_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 66.93 KB ]