Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Workplace from the Perspective of Older Employees: A Mixed Methods Research Study

Collaboration in Occupational Health Nursing: A Concept Analysis Review

OBJECTIVES

Establishing collaboration with occupational health staff is essential to support workers and organizations in the field of occupational health. Accordingly, occupational health nurses (OHNs) have recognized the need to collaborate with other professionals, including non-health care professionals. This review aimed to examine the components of collaboration in OHNs.

METHODS

This review was conducted using Walker and Avant's eight-step analysis method on 267 papers (174 in Japanese and 93 in English) identified through an extensive literature review.

RESULTS

Key attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents helped shape an operational definition of the concept of collaboration. Collaboration among OHNs is a process that integrates individuals, organizations, and systems. Further, OHNs are responsible for ensuring that employers and workers collaborate to actively promote and facilitate occupational health activities. In addition, OHNs assess the health status of individuals and organizations to determine whether collaboration is needed through the occupational nursing process. The quality and outcomes of collaboration are influenced by social trends and the health culture of each organization. Through collaboration with various stakeholders, OHNs contribute to making the workplace a better environment, improving labor efficiency, increasing worker productivity, and ensuring health and safety.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides a comprehensive understanding of collaboration in occupational health nursing. Collaboration among OHNs is notably characterized by its "integration." OHNs can facilitate collaboration between employers and employees in occupational health activities, potentially benefiting both businesses and health care. The clarification of collaboration in this review has the potential to enhance OHN practices and guide future research.

Challenges in teleworking management related to accommodations, inclusion, and the health of workers: A qualitative study through the lens of social exchanges

BACKGROUND

Telework is increasingly prevalent and holds the potential to serve as an accommodation, facilitating inclusion and promoting healthy participation among various segments of the workforce, such as aging employees, individuals with chronic illnesses or those living alone with one or more dependents. Nevertheless, this promising avenue presents management challenges that remain underexplored in the literature.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to identify the challenges in telework management related to accommodations, inclusion and the health of workers with life situations entailing specific needs.

METHODS

We conducted a descriptive interpretative study grounded in Social Exchange Theory, by collecting data through interviews with 9 managers and conducting focus groups involving 16 workers. We used a thematic-analysis approach to analyze the data.

RESULTS

We identified seven overarching themes encapsulating management challenges that relate to accommodation (e.g., maintaining a balance between the benefits for the worker and the impacts on the organization) inclusion (e.g., maintaining team cohesion) and health (e.g., managing teleworkers' emotions).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings underscore the significance of fostering robust social exchanges across hierarchical levels, and they highlight the necessity of equipping managers with the requisite tools to navigate the ethical quandaries arising from accommodation requests.

The concept of integration in mixed methods research: a step-by-step guide using an example study in physiotherapy

BACKGROUND

Integration is a unique attribute of Mixed Methods Research (MMR). However, some MMR studies, published in the field of physiotherapy and other allied health professions, have illustrated a lack of understanding of the concept of integration.

AIMS

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for integrating elements of mixed methods research in order to effectively support evidence-based practice in health.

METHODS

The concept of integration of findings is explained with reference to the author's recent PhD study, which used a mixed methods exploratory sequential design. This article describes how the author used a narrative joint display to integrate findings from both the qualitative and survey phases of the study. Then, a step-by-step approach is introduced to guide the interpretation and integration of the findings.

RESULTS

This four-step approach demonstrates integration of the two different datasets: Creating a joint display, linking activity, establishing relationships, and interpreting and reporting. Tables and Figures are used to support detailed description and illustration of the integration process.

DISCUSSION

A joint display provides a visual representation of how the qualitative and quantitative findings in a MMR study can be integrated. In this way, interpretation of the data drawn from this process extend beyond the individual findings of each study component to facilitate a greater understanding of complex health care issues.