The safety and well-being of health care workers may be much more closely linked to that of their patients a new report states.
Developed in collaboration with three major U.S. research organizations, the report “Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation,” suggests not only that there is a connection between the two, but there may be “synergies” in addressing patient and worker safety together.
The report gives examples of how worker satisfaction and characteristics of the work environment affect patient outcomes, including:
• Patient satisfaction levels were lower in hospitals with more nurses who are dissatisfied or burned out;
• Lower perception of safety and teamwork among nurses was associated with increased odds of pressure ulcers in patients and increased nurse injury;
• A higher nurse per patient ratio was associated with fewer patient falls.
An organizational safety climate was also found to reduce worker stress among high risk patients.
OPSEU Diablogue 