Nurse work environment

Laschinger HK, Sabiston JA, Kutszcher L. Empowerment and staff nurse decision involvement in nursing work environments testing Kanter s theory of structural power in organizatons. Res. Nurs. Hlth. 1997 20 341-352. 

Impact of Nurse Work Environment on Patient Safety... 

Nikula E, Kiviniitty K, Leisti J, Taskinen PJ. Chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes of nurses handhng cytostatic agents. Scand J Work Environ Health 1984 10(2) 71. ... 

Skare I, Bergstroem T, Engqvist A, et al. 1990. Mercury exposure of different origins among dentists and dental nurses. Scand J Work Environ Health 16 340-347. 

One hundred-sixty-seven doctors, 92 dentists, and 333 nurses were patch-tested with a standard panel of allergens plus allergens common to their work environment. Among nurses, formaldehyde was the disinfectant that most frequently caused allergic reactions (9.6%). Three doctors also had positive skin tests for formaldehyde. 

Institute of Medicine (2004) Keeping Patients Safe Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses, National Academies Press, Washington DC. 

Look again at Table 16.1 and substitute nurse, doctor, pharmacist or psychologist for shunter. Imagine your own working environment and the routine tasks you should carry out, but may not. Does this list of reasons seem familiar A similar study of violations was carried out with anaesthetists using common scenarios, such as the ones below to elicit the reasons for potential violations ... 

Lake, E.T. 2002. Development of the practice environment scale of the nursing work index. Research in Nursing and Health, 25(3), 176-88. 

Hall, L. M., Quality Work Environments For Nurse and Patient Safety, ]onesiraA Bartlett, Sudbury, Massachusetts, 2005. 

Nurses and air traffic controllers jobs have many similarities. Both cope daily with "takeoffs" and "landings" (admissions, discharges, transfers) and other risks. Their jobs are inherently unpredictable. To be successful, team members must rely on each other, and yet the busy work environment makes it easy for an individual to slip into his or her own mental "to do" list. 

In theory, the IH is responsible for chemical, biological,physical, and radioactive health hazards within the work environment. In practice, no one individual can be an expert in all of these areas. Control of workplace health hazards has become so complex that in workplaces where most or all of these hazards are present, the management of these hazards is assigned to a team of occupational health professionals. Such a team might include an occupational physician, occupational nurse, safety professional, health physicist (radiation protection), and others. Workplaces with high-risk microbiological exposures may also employ biological safety professionals. 

Smit HA, van Rijssen A, Vandenbroucke J, Coenraads PJ (1994) Individual susceptibility and the incidence of hand dermatitis in a cohort of apprentice hairdressers and nurses Scand J Work Environ Health 20 113-121... 

Another group that is potentially at increased risk for abuse of painkillers is doctors, nurses, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, dentists, veterinarians, and others who work in health care. It may be easier for people working in environments where drugs are kept or dispensed to either steal pills or forge prescriptions for themselves or others. 

To work effectively within a disaster environment, American Red Cross nurses and volunteers are expected to develop and maintain certain competencies to ensure quality service. Competencies are applied to practice in differing ways, depending on the situation and the environment. 

Nurses must work to create an environment that promotes and sustains health for all its citizens. Increases in scientific knowledge regarding the development of toxic chemicals and advances in technology must be balanced by the wisdom restricting their transport and use. The impact on the health of a community... 

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