Citation

Mark BA, Hughes LC, Belyea M, Chang Y, Hofmann D, Jones CB, Bacon CT. J. Saf. Res. 2007; 38(4): 431-446.

Affiliation

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. bmark@email.unc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2007.04.004

PMID

17884430

PMCID

PMC2062533

Abstract

PROBLEM: Hospital nurses have one of the highest work-related injury rates in the United States. Yet, approaches to improving employee safety have generally focused on attempts to modify individual behavior through enforced compliance with safety rules and mandatory participation in safety training. We examined a theoretical model that investigated the impact on nurse injuries (back injuries and needlesticks) of critical structural variables (staffing adequacy, work engagement, and work conditions) and further tested whether safety climate moderated these effects. METHOD: A longitudinal, non-experimental, organizational study, conducted in 281 medical-surgical units in 143 general acute care hospitals in the United States. RESULTS: Work engagement and work conditions were positively related to safety climate, but not directly to nurse back injuries or needlesticks. Safety climate moderated the relationship between work engagement and needlesticks, while safety climate moderated the effect of work conditions on both needlesticks and back injuries, although in unexpected ways. DISCUSSION AND IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Our findings suggest that positive work engagement and work conditions contribute to enhanced safety climate and can reduce nurse injuries.

Language: en