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Health care restructuring, work environment, and health of nurses
Author(s) -
Bourbonnais Renée,
Brisson Chantal,
Malenfant Romaine,
Vézina Michel
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20104
Subject(s) - psychosocial , medicine , psychological intervention , restructuring , job satisfaction , health care , cross sectional study , social support , job strain , occupational medicine , nursing , environmental health , family medicine , psychiatry , psychology , occupational exposure , social psychology , finance , pathology , economics , economic growth
Background In the last 15 years, the health care system has undergone significant restructuring. The study's objective was to examine the psychosocial work environment and the health of nurses after major restructuring in comparison with two reference populations. Methods This cross‐sectional study involved 2,006 nurses from 16 health centers. A questionnaire measured current work characteristics: psychological demands, decision latitude, and social support at work from Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, organizational changes, and health effects. Prevalence ratios and binomial regression were used to examine the associations between current work characteristics, changes and psychological distress (PSI). Results There was a considerable increase in the prevalence of PSI and of adverse psychosocial work factors in comparison to the prevalence reported by a comparable group of nurses in 1994. These adverse factors were also more prevalent among nurses than among Québec working women and they were independently associated with psychological distress. Conclusion Workplace interventions should be based on elements identified by many nurses as being problematic. Am. J. Ind. Med. 47:54–64, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.