Role overload takes toll at Ottawa hospitals, study says

According to a new study done in Ottawa 50% of 1 400 employees working at four Ottawa- area hospitals suffer from stress due to work role overload (too many responsibilities and too little time to do them).  

The above number is from a study that was funded by the WSIB.  This is the first time that a research project is examining the causes and effects of role overload.  

The study’s aim is to further investigate health care workers’ overload after the 2001 national study by Duxbury found their overload increased more than any other profession in the last 10 years.

Key findings:

-57% experience high levels of role overload
-59% reported high stress levels
-36% have high levels of depressed mood
-One in five in poor physical health
-Half cut back on sleep to cope
-One-fifth used prescription drugs or alcohol to relieve stress
-75% admitted to coming to work when they were sick
-One in three admitted to calling in sick due to emotional or physical fatigue, or "mental health days."

The above findings indicate that the operation of an organization is at stake when numbers like these appear.  These numbers indicate high rates of absenteeism and presenteeism and decreased deficiency.  

A number of factors affect workers in the health care field, understaffing, competing priorities (home and work) and the organizational culture of the system, are just a few. 

Unfortunately in the health care sector if the person working the next shift does not show up they do not have the opportunity to leave their jobs, they would have to stay and work or face serious consequences.  

Health care workers who get sick tend not to stay home because they feel they have to go into work, they push themselves often making their sickness worse.  

Work overload is something that is often ignored.  People are not aware of the issue. Stress and mental health is discussed often, but overload is overlooked in these discussions.

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Posted by: suhujitha on 2010-02-02 16:05:39

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