Abstract:

Considering the nature of the work of nurses in the hospitals and other health-related facilities, it is pertinent to discuss workplace-induced injuries and illnesses encountered while caring for the patients and how the patients themselves are exposed to such risks while receiving treatment in the health care facilities. Needless to mention that so many workplace stressors that are capable of causing diseases and injuries are ubiquitous in the work environments. Nurses are often stressed up physically and psychologically, in addition to their constant exposure to a harsh workplace safety climate.

A cross-sectional research design was used and questionnaires were distributed for data collection. The study showed that, injuries are most sustained by the nurses in the government-owned hospitals with a score of 43.5%, followed by the private hospitals maintaining her second position with a score of 31.7%, while the mission hospitals scored 24.8%. It was also found that unsafe acts are most common in general hospitals, followed by private hospitals, and with the lowest score in Mission Hospitals, because the Mission hospitals were found to be more safety conscious among the three groups of hospitals under review. In Delta State, 98% of nurses run shift in the hospital, out of which 60% admitted having some health problems whenever subjected to shift work and long work hours. 2% of nurses do straight morning duty. Mission Hospitals have the greatest challenges of managing and coping with injuries and illnesses at work (35.6%), most probably due to their lean financial resources. This study also showed that the professional nurses are significantly aware of the ways to prevent or mitigate injuries and illnesses at work. However, majority of them experience these problems because of their non-adherence to safety rules and their constant tendencies to follow short cuts

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