Occupational injuries in home healthcare workers

Purpose: With over 1.3 million workers in a variety of occupations, the home healthcare sector is large and rapidly growing; over 60% growth is predicated in the next 10 years. Delivery of care in this setting is challenging, and many of the health and safety risk management strategies we take for granted are either absent or minimal. To help characterize risk in this setting, a large survey of registered nurses and aides working in home care in New York State was conducted.

Method: A multi method recruitment of this hard-to-reach workforce resulted in a sample of 1561 aides and 738 RNs. Participants completed a self-administered or facilitated five-page questionnaire that included items on injuries experienced over the past three years.

Results: Back injuries were the most commonly reported injury; the annual rate was 2.6% for the combined sample or 26 back injuries per 1000 workers per year (31/1000 in RNs/year and 23/1000 in aides/year), followed by upper (2/1000/year) and lower (1/1000/year) extremity injuries, and lacerations and bruises (1/1000/year). Most injuries occurred during the delivery of patient care, from carrying heavy equipment, or resulting from a slip/trip/falls. Injuries were more likely to be reported by workers who also experienced physical and verbal threats in the home.

Conclusion: For many of the injuries, effective risk reduction strategies are available. Barriers to implementation of these strategies need to be identified and addressed in order to reduce risk in this work population.