“Making Do” Decisions: How Home Healthcare Personnel Manage Their Exposure to Home Hazards

Details

• Personal Author:
  Darragh A ; Lavender S ; Polivka BJ ; Sommerich C ; Stredney D ; Wills CE
• Description:
  This study describes the decision-making processes home healthcare personnel (HHP) use to manage their personal health and safety when managing hazards in client homes. A professionally diverse national sample of 68 HHP participated in individual semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, and described their decision making and strategies for hazard management in their work environments. HHP described 353 hazard management dilemmas within 394 specifically identified hazards, which were clustered within three broader categories: electrical/fire, slip/trip/lift, and environmental exposures. HHP described multiple types of "making do" decisions for hazard management solutions in which perceived and actual resource limitations constrained response options. A majority of hazard management decisions in the broader hazards categories (72.5%, 68.5%, and 63.5%, respectively) were classifiable as less than optimal. These findings stress the need for more support of HHPs, including comprehensive training, to improve HHP decision making and hazard management strategies, especially in context of resource constraints. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Decision Making Home Care Services Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Decision Making Decision Making Home Environmental Hazards Home Health Care Home Healthcare Personnel Occupational Hazards Simulation Methods Simulation Training Training Work Environment
• ISSN:
  0193-9459
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  411-426
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049540
• Citation:
  West J Nurs Res 2016 Apr; 38(4):411-426
• Contact Point Address:
  Celia E. Wills, College of Nursing, Ohio State University, 1585 Neil Avenue, 394 Newton Hall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
• Email:
  wills.120@osu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Louisville
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20130901
• Source Full Name:
  Western Journal of Nursing Research
• End Date:
  20171231
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8e389f130d4b1dde8e6db7d92a6ae0da69d3371fa30623893449377f9fa0773d03713e2d6c49cf6cba9ef7175e0beb923e6b8fd3bf1160cbf5d75c72fbb5c2eb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210288/cdc_210288_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 362.26 KB ]