Occupational injury among full-time, part-time and casual health care workers

Background Previous epidemiological studies have conflicting suggestions on the association of occupational injury risks with employment category across industries. This specific issue has not been examined for direct patient care occupations in the health care sector. Aims To investigate whether work-related injury rates differ by employment category (part time, full time or casual) for registered nurses (RNs) in acute care and care aides (CAs) in long-term facilities. Methods Incidents of occupational injury resulting in compensated time loss from work, over a 1-year period within three health regions in British Columbia (BC), Canada, were extracted from a standardized operational database. Detailed analysis was conducted using Poisson regression modeling. Results Among 8640 RNs in acute care, 37% worked full time, 24% part time and 25% casual. The overall rates of injuries were 7.4, 5.3 and 5.5 per 100 person-years, respectively. Among the 2967 CAs in long-term care, 30% worked full time, 20% part time and 40% casual. The overall rates of injuries were 25.8, 22.9 and 18.1 per 100 person-years, respectively. In multivariate models, having adjusted for age, gender, facility and health region, full-time RNs had significantly higher risk of sustaining injuries compared to part-time and casual workers. For CAs, full-time workers had significantly higher risk of sustaining injuries compared to casual workers. Conclusions Full-time direct patient care occupations have greater risk of injury compared to part-time and casual workers within the health care sector.