Studying home health care nurses and aides: research design and challenges

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bello A ; Chalupka SM ; Galligan C ; Gore RJ ; Kim H ; Kriebel D ; Markkanen, Pia ; Quinn M ; Sama SR
• Description:
  Home health care (HHC) is growing rapidly and yet health and safety conditions of HHC clinicians are poorly understood. Study of this workforce presents unique challenges because it is decentralised, often part-time and mobile. As part of a larger project on sharps injuries and blood exposures in HHC, this paper addresses the challenges of recruiting a large cohort of HHC nurses and aides and describes novel cross-sectional survey methodology. Recruitment was conducted with cooperation from eight HHC agencies and two labour unions. Intensive personal contacts and a financial incentive ($25) were employed. Some groups of HHC clinicians could be contacted only by mail, while others were contacted during a promotional "mini-fair" at their agency. A total of 1772, 18-page health and safety surveys were distributed and 1225 usable surveys were collected. This 69% overall response rate is better than that in many recent health surveys. Survey returns were highest (67-91%) where promotional events were held. The mailing-only strategy generated lower response rates (53-55%), despite the same financial incentive. Despite the challenges of reaching out to the decentralised HHC workforce, adequate response to a detailed health survey is possible, using appropriate techniques and with the close cooperation of employers and labour unions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Body Fluids Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Home Health Care Blood-cells Blood-plasma Bloodborne-pathogens Body-fluids Exposure-levels Health-care Health-care-personnel Medical-personnel Needlestick-injuries Nurses Occupational Safety And Health Questionnaires Response Rates Safety-measures Safety-practices Study Participant Recruiting Survey Research

  More +
• ISSN:
  1744-9871
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  480-495
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041051
• Citation:
  J Res Nurs 2008 Nov; 13(6):480-495
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Pia Markkanen, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts - Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Research in Nursing
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d72ff6bd19f5c96321a713ef18d5d4439abe675cbb4a23fe9155944997d5da33269b84f14dd82af23102e53e81b986acc94103a4c03016c2ec2f94b38ae4d4a7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193711/cdc_193711_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 252.16 KB ]