Perception of Risk in Home Visiting: A Follow-Up Study 13 Years Later

Workplace violence is a significant concern for both employers and employees. This study will provide evidence on the extent to which workers in C/PHN perceive their work environment as safe, whether they feel empowered to manage situations that pose risk, and whether agencies provide resources to assure safety of personnel as compared to a study completed in 1994. Thus, data to improve policies and procedures to insure a safer workplace will be readily available for administrators and field workers. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the similarities and differences noted in the comparing the previous study group (1994) and those surveyed in 2006. The aims are to (a) identify and describe risk factors encountered during each phase of the home visits related to the following factors: environment, patient health status, patients' ability to participate in activities of daily (ADL), threats to the personal safety of fieldworkers and administrators; (b) compare and contrast the two groups across these dimensions; and (c) compare and contrast the extent to which the two groups differ based upon selected demographic variables and the sense of coherence (SOC). Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nurse assistants whose primary area of practice was listed as public health/home health were obtained from Oregon and Kansas. A letter explaining the study and the survey instrument were sent to 1,452 individuals. Survey responses were returned by 175. Findings will be presented within the context of comparing and contrasting findings from the 1994 study with the present study.