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Hospitals should be exemplars of healthy workplaces
Author(s) -
Russell Lesley M,
Anstey Matthew H R,
Wells Susan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja14.01437
Subject(s) - stewardship (theology) , public relations , interpersonal communication , health care , nursing , business , occupational safety and health , patient safety , medicine , psychology , political science , social psychology , pathology , politics , law
Summary As major employers and flagship health care organisations, hospitals can influence the norms of the communities they serve by adopting model policies and practices that promote the health of patients, visitors, employees, students and trainees. Hospitals must become healthy workplaces in every sense and extend their role to focus on health and wellness, not just illness. Reorienting hospital policies can: ► ensure the provision and stewardship of healthy, ecologically sound and sustainable environments; ► increase the focus on promoting health and prevention; ► foster interpersonal safety; and ► improve workplace safety. Such efforts deliver improvements in health outcomes and savings in hospital budgets.