As part of the Changing the Workplace project, randomly-selected hospital units selected and implemented interventions intended to reduce workplace stress and improve employee mental health. To evaluate whether the interventions impact health above and beyond regular unit activities, participants from randomly selected control and intervention units are being surveyed three times: before the interventions were implemented (baseline survey), after the implementation of the initial intervention (post-intervention survey), and after the second set of interventions have been completed (follow-up survey). To date, only the baseline survey has been completed.
Below are some of the key findings from the baseline survey:
- High workload (high work demands, employee effort, patient acuity, excessive patients, and task volume) and insufficient staffing were the most frequently cited concerns.
- Participants perceive themselves as providing a higher quality of patient care on units when these are not concerns.
- The physical environment is of concern to the staff, including issues related to a lack of space, limited patient beds, and poor cleanliness.
- Some participants also indicated being concerned about organizational communication, input into decision making, and, to a lesser extent, work-life imbalance.
- Participants reported having positive relationships with leadership although the qualitative results suggest that some frontline workers would prefer leadership that is more available, responsive and supportive.
- Employee rewards, such as promotion opportunities and recognition, are perceived to be sufficient.
Open-ended qualitative questions yielded a wide range of potential facilitators and challenges to the provision of quality patient care and warrant review. For example, personal characteristics of frontline workers, such as devotion, thoroughness, carefulness, and experience were frequently reported as positively influencing provision of patient care. Supporting and further developing these skills could potentially serve as tools to improve the overall work environment. The results are similar across the health authorities with a few minor exceptions.
The results of the baseline survey can be found in the Changing the Workplace brief report below.
* A measure of the spread of the data. A standard deviation of 12 with mean of 42 would suggest that the majority (68%) of respondents were between 30 and 44 years of age.|
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Project Focus: |
Changing the Workplace (Phase II) Brief Report
January 2008 (233 kb, 23 pgs) |
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