Defining the Role and Occupational Health Issues of Patient Sitters

定义病人看护者的角色和职业健康问题

• 批准号: 10456449
• 负责人: LISA A POMPEII
• 金额: $ 20.06万
• 依托单位: BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10456449
• 关键词: Defining; Role; Occupational; Health; Issues

Abstract Patient sitters are healthcare workers responsible for “constant observation” of patients at risk for harming themselves and others (e.g., suicidal, at risk for falling, agitated, violent, withdrawing from drugs/alcohol). This often requires them to manage difficult patients and situations on their own in isolation for 8- to 12-hour shifts. Although healthcare organizations rely heavily on patient sitters, there is consensus in the clinical-based literature that this job is poorly defined, and that workers in this role are poorly trained and prepared to meet the requirements of their job. Further, numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of patient sitters on patient outcomes (e.g., patient fall prevention); however, a recent systematic review identified only one study in the past decade that pertained to worker health and safety issues among patient sitters. While healthcare workers are known to be at high risk for numerous occupational exposures and outcomes (e.g., musculoskeletal injury, exposure to droplet/airborne pathogens, bloodborne pathogens), no studies have examined these types of exposures/outcomes in patient sitters. Patient sitters serve a critical role in patient care, yet, they are poorly defined in the clinical-based literature, and are essentially absent in the occupation health literature. To address these gaps, we aim to define the role of the patient sitter in the acute care pediatric and adult hospital settings, describe the types of training and continuing education that patient sitters receive and need, and examine the occupational health and safety issues that patient sitters encounter. We propose to conduct a cross-sectional, mixed methods study of patient sitters and hospital leaders. In collaboration with the Texas Hospital Administration (THA), we will invite leaders that oversee their Patient Sitter program/workers (n=430 Texas hospitals) to participate in an anonymous online survey about the role of the patient sitter in their hospitals, as well as hospital procedures and policies that pertain to these workers. Among those that respond, we will request access to conduct an anonymous online survey among their patient sitters with the goal of recruiting 1,000 sitters, with a mix from pediatric and adult acute care hospitals. The development of the patient sitter survey will be informed by the hospital leader survey findings, as well as focus group discussion findings among a subset of patient sitters from the participating hospitals. The sitter survey will ascertain details about job responsibilities, training, occupational safety and health issues, and organizational support. Findings from this proposed work will place sitters into the occupational literature where they can be appropriately defined and considered in the context of occupational health and safety prevention efforts.

抽象的 病人看护者是负责“持续观察”有患病风险的病人的医护人员 伤害自己和他人（例如有自杀倾向、有跌倒的危险、烦躁、暴力、孤僻 药物/酒精），这通常需要他们处理困难的病人和他们的情况。 尽管医疗机构严重依赖患者，但仍处于隔离状态，轮班时间为 8 至 12 小时。 保姆们，基于临床的文献一致认为这项工作的定义不明确，而且 担任此职位的工人没有接受过充分的培训，也没有做好满足其工作要求的准备。 许多研究都检验了患者保姆对患者治疗结果的有效性（例如， 然而，最近的一项系统回顾仅发现了一项过去的研究 十年来，与医疗保健期间的工人健康和安全问题有关。 众所周知，工人面临多种职业暴露和后果的高风险（例如， 肌肉骨骼损伤、接触飞沫/空气传播的病原体、血源性病原体），无 研究检查了病人看护者所服务的这些类型的暴露/结果。 它们在患者护理中发挥着至关重要的作用，然而，它们在临床文献中的定义并不明确，并且 职业健康文献中基本上不存在这些差距，我们的目标是定义这些差距。 病人看护者在急症护理儿科和成人医院环境中的作用，描述 病人保姆接受和需要的培训和继续教育类型，并检查 我们建议对病人看护者遇到的职业健康和安全问题进行调查。 与患者看护者和医院领导合作进行横断面、混合方法研究。 德克萨斯州医院管理局 (THA)，我们将邀请负责监督患者保姆的领导 项目/工作人员（n = 430 家德克萨斯州医院）参与一项关于 病人看护者在医院中的角色，以及相关的医院程序和政策 在那些做出回应的工人中，我们将要求进行匿名访问。 对患者保姆进行在线调查，目标是招募 1,000 名保姆，其中包括来自 儿科和成人急症护理医院将开展患者保姆调查。 根据医院领导的调查结果以及焦点小组讨论结果 来自参与医院的一部分患者保姆调查将确定详细信息。 关于工作职责、培训、职业安全和健康问题以及组织 这项拟议工作的结果将把保姆纳入休闲文献中。 可以在职业健康和安全的背景下对其进行适当的定义和考虑 预防工作。