Abstract
Prediabetes Screening Among Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
Ruiz, Erin; Parke, Lori; Olszewski, Kimberly
Background: Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers have an elevated risk of diabetes due to multiple occupational related factors. CMV drivers are required to undergo periodic fitness for duty physicals at least every two years by a certified medical examiner. Federal regulations pertaining to CMV driver physicals require a urine glucose dip, which is a test with low sensitivity. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) initiative was to determine if using the American Diabetes Association’s Type 2 Diabetes (ADA T2DM) Risk Test as a screening tool was more effective at identifying CMV drivers at risk of diabetes versus sole reliance on glycosuria.
Methods: Quantitative measures were used to evaluate CMV drivers in an occupational health clinic, by comparing urine glucose dip results to those of the ADA T2DM Risk Test; point of care hemoglobin A1C was used to measure accuracy of the screening tests. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to evaluate association between screening tests and hemoglobin A1C level.
Findings: Based on 117 participants, both screening tests had poor diagnostic measures.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Although the ADA T2DM Risk Test was not an accurate diagnostic measure, it created discussion with participants about the importance of diabetes screening among CMV drivers.
Benefits of Certification in Occupational Health Nursing: Survey and Results
Carlson, Lucy; Carlson, Ginny; Warrick, Shelly; Cusack, Carole
Background: Historically, surveys have been conducted by ABOHN to identify the benefits of certification in Occupational Health Nursing (OHN). The benefits have been presented for many years at conferences, in publications and on the ABOHN website. In 2020, ABOHN sought to confirm the benefits of OHN certification.
Methods: A valid and reliable survey instrument was developed, and an email invitation sent and distributed to approximately 3,000 certified OHNs in the United States and Canada. ABOHN received 402 usable responses. In addition to questions on the benefits of certification, demographic data was gathered on the number of years of certification and region of practice.
Questions were asked regarding benefits of certification in two categories including support for the employer and impact on job performance; and personal satisfaction and achievement. The respondents could choose more than one option.
Findings: Survey responses were received from a regional distribution of ABOHN certificants, distribution of core credentials was similar to all ABOHN certificants and 72% of respondents had been certified for 10 or more years. Certification was required or recommended by over 70% of employers. More than 90% of respondents rated the benefits of certification as moderate to high for the majority of the items surveyed.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The survey confirms the benefits of certification in occupational health nursing. The majority of OHN respondents find value in certification both professionally and personally.
Fixing knee and back injury: correcting biomechanical flaws in common worker movement
Callihan, Michael; Jeong, Nathan; Choffin, Zachary; Mohabbat, Sophia; Gunter, Joshua
Background: Nearly 890,000 workers experience musculoskeletal injury in the workplace annually with the back and the knee being among the most injured regions. With a linkage known between knee positioning and injury to the knee and back, it is critical to detect the knee position to limit the potential risk of musculoskeletal injury.
Methods: Secondary analysis was performed of biomechanical data from 41 healthy college students while walking and performing squat and lunge movements. Data were collected using commercial Xsens motion capture system and analyzed through Visual 3D software to determine the lateral movements of the knees. Data were further analyzed to determine the percentage of movement that participants were in involving the valgus position.
Findings: Participants were from the campus community with no current injury to the back or lower extremity including, 29 females and 12 males with an average age of 22.3 years. We observed that every participant spent time during each movement in the valgus position. Participants spent between 22% and 94% of the time with a maximum angle of 29.9 degrees. The forward leg in the lunge position demonstrated the highest amount of valgus position when assuming a position to lift an object from the ground. The swing leg of the gait cycle demonstrated the highest amount of valgus position at the time of the heel strike.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Valgus positioning of the knee, especially when the knee is flexed has shown to increase the force in the knee, increasing the risk for injury. Through the identification of the valgus knee position and directed physical training to correct it, injury to the knee and back of workers can be reduced.
Journey to the Unexplored Setting: The Lived Experience of Occupational Health Nurses
Anyaman, Nur-Fadzilah
Background: Occupational health nurses emerged as the caring presence enabling equanimity in the workplace advocating a culture of health. The essence of this study was to unravel the lived experience of occupational health nurses in the industrial setting particularly in a developing country.
Methods: The methodological interpretations of Colaizzi founded this phenomenological study which has granted access to explore and describe the experience of 8 occupational health nurses. Purposive sampling was utilized to select participants who work in a manufacturing company in the Philippines. An extensive interview with the aid of a guiding questionnaire with open-ended questions was used to extract information from the participants’ experience. The narrative were transcribed verbatim, analyzed, and described using a descriptive phenomenological methodology. This study adhered to the approved ethical processes.
Findings: Twenty-five cluster themes emerged from the participants’ experience which was merged into six emergent themes. Evidently, career development, career perspective, the unique setting, and its challenging nature, presence of opportunity, and the financial aspects were the reasons that motivated them to pursue this specialization. It was described that altruism, commitment, and satisfaction were essential elements in achieving meaningful caring moments. It was confirmed that they experienced being undervalued and unrecognized. The lack of educational preparation and diversity was deemed a challenge, which motivated the nurses to reach their peak potential in developing strategies and honing their skills to overcome these challenges as depicted through their experience.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Their lived experience helped us in gaining knowledge and future reference about how caring science substantially influence the promotion and protection of health in the workplace. Paving a new path towards understanding and finding the gap in the enhancement of nursing development was realized.
The Impact of Sleep on Occupational Outcomes for Long-Term Care Workers: An Integrative Review
Keller, Elizabeth G.; Hittle, Beverly M.; Smith, Carolyn R.
Background: Inadequate sleep duration and poor sleep quality in healthcare workers negatively affects their work readiness, safety, and wellbeing. Nurses with more sleep deficiencies tend to increase the risk for patient errors as well. However, little is known about the occupational consequences of poor sleep among providers in long-term care specifically. The purpose of this integrative review was to answer the research question: among post-acute/retirement center/long term nursing care workers, is worker insufficient sleep duration and/or poor sleep quality associated with increased occupational injuries, incidents, errors, and/or other performance measures (i.e., absenteeism, presenteeism, intent to leave)?
Methods: PubMed, CINHAL, Scopus, and NIOSH-tic databases were reviewed with keywords of sleep, long-term care, and nurses. Inclusion criteria involved: post-acute care facility work setting; population of nursing assistants (or equivalent practice), licensed practical nurses, or registered nurses; high-income country; and written in English. Articles were excluded if the setting was for outpatient care, published before 2010, review articles, and grey literature. Analysis and synthesis were guided by Whittemore & Knafl’s (2005) five stage methodology, and the Johns Hopkins’ Evidence Level and Quality Guide (2021) was used to evaluate articles.
Findings: In the search, 1,543 articles were identified, and nine articles met eligibility criteria for inclusion in this review. Patterns and themes were iteratively compared and discussed until occupational outcomes emerged as: burnout/ fatigue, mental and physical health, and wellbeing.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Future interventions may be considered to better support this population. Long-term care organizations can work toward ensuring there are policies that protect workers against burnout and fatigue, offering resources and incentives for resource utilization, along with providing benefits that promote wellbeing.
Workplace Psychological Distress: A Concept Analysis
Mopkins, Dawn
Background: Workplace psychological distress (WPD) significantly impacts employees’ mental and physical well-being. However, WPD has not been well-defined in the literature as a concept. This concept analysis aims to clarify the concept of WPD and promote the use of the term in occupational health nursing research.
Methods: Strategies introduced by Walker and Avant’s conceptual analysis method will be utilized to conceptualize WPD and its impact on employees. A literature search was conducted using Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Business Source Complete, and APA PsycArticles. The keyword search included the terms “workplace” AND “employee” AND “psychological distress.”
Findings: Antecedents of WPD are an increase in job demands, lack of control, low support, and workplace bullying. Defining attributes for WPD are extreme fatigue, role conflict, and time pressures. Consequences of WPD were identified as mental disorders, physical disorders, and loss in productivity. This concept was further illustrated using a model, borderline, and contrary case.
Conclusion/Implications for Practice: Identifying signs of WPD is of great importance in caring for employees in the workplace. Occupational health nurses can use information obtained from a workplace assessment to develop policies, implement well- being programs, and provide employee referrals.