Occupational Diseases: Nurses Face Health Risks

A new report says that nurses in Canada are at a significantly higher risk for workplace injuries, stress, and chronic health conditions like depression and high blood pressure than those who are not nurses. The deleterious health effects seem to be linked to the work environment; nursing is physically demanding, patients can be violent and demanding, nurses are constantly exposed to sharp objects and infectious diseases, nursing demands an excessive workload with long hours, and they also face strained interpersonal relations in the health sector.

Nurses' Jobs Bad for Their Health

Lisa Little, senior nurse consultant at the Canadian Nurses Association, said that the study results showed that "the bottom line is that looking after the health of Canadians has made a lot of nurses unhealthy. This is pretty troubling for nurses and it should be troubling for the patients who depend on them for care." The report on which these conclusions were based found that 29% of nurses were physically assaulted in the past year, 44% had been emotionally abused by patients or their family members, and 48% had been stuck by a needle while on the job.