Workplace Health & Safety

We examined premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) among Brazilian university professors, a socially influential workforce exposed to psychosocial stressors and occupational demands that may affect chronic disease risk.

We conducted an ecological time-series study (2012–2022) of adults aged 30 to 64 years, using mortality data from the Brazilian Mortality Information System. We assessed trends in proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) for cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease (CRD) using joinpoint regression. Because denominators for professors were unavailable across the entire period, we compared absolute premature mortality rates with those of the general population only for 2021 to 2022.

Between 2012 and 2022, 3,929 premature deaths occurred among professors, 54.4% due to NCDs versus 49.6% in the general population. PMRs showed declines in cancer (men: APC −2.1%; women: −1.7%; all p < .05), an increase in diabetes among men (APC 9.5%; p = .048), and stability for CVD and CRD. In 2021 to 2022, professors had lower premature mortality from CVD, CRD, diabetes (men), and cancer (men; all p < .05), with no advantage for cancer in women (both years) or diabetes in women (2022; p > .05). Breast cancer mortality was higher among female professors in 2021 (OR = 1.54; 95% CI [1.13, 2.09]; p = .008).

While professors benefit from lower premature NCD mortality, sex-specific gaps underscore the need for tailored preventive strategies in worker health programs.

Findings underscore the importance of integrating targeted cancer screening, cardiovascular risk assessment, and diabetes surveillance into university-based occupational health programs.

The operating room involves many physical, chemical, and biological risk factors. Operating room nurses may have to work in long, tense operations and with different teams. Such challenging working environments can cause operating room nurses to experience stress, anxiety and depression. Our aim was to analyze operating room nurses’ perceived stress, anxiety, and depression levels according to their experience in the operating room, and to identify associated factors.

This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 173 operating room nurses in Turkiye between June and December 2024. The sample was formed by the snowball method of convenience sampling. The data were analyzed using correlation analysis, independent-samples t-test, and linear regression analysis.

Perceived stress and anxiety scores were significantly higher among nurses with 0 to 1 year of experience in the operating room compared to those more than 1 year of experience (p < .05). In the linear regression model, HADS anxiety score, being female, and being single were found to be significant predictors of perceived stress. In addition, being female and having 0 to 1 year of operating room experience were found to be significant predictors of HADS anxiety score. Being female and not working with a fixed team were significant predictors of HADS depression score.

Perceived stress and anxiety were higher among nurses working in the operating room for year or less. A comprehensive mental health support system should be established, and nurses’ stress, anxiety, and depression levels should be assessed regularly.

Violent deaths represent a serious occupational health and safety concern in healthcare. This study examines the occupations, sociodemographic factors, and circumstances reported for homicides and suicides occurring at work and outside work among decedents in select healthcare industries and occupations.

Decedents in healthcare sub-industries were identified in CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System, years 2017 to 2022. Workplace and non-workplace deaths were included. Frequencies and proportions of decedent demographics, occupation categories, location of injury, and precipitating circumstances including perpetrator-victim relationship (among homicides), and social, mental health, and substance use factors contributing to death (among suicides) were reported.

During 2017 to 2022, 91 workplace homicides, 3,889 non-workplace homicides, 97 workplace suicides, and 12,450 non-workplace suicides were reported among healthcare industry workers. Suicides and homicides occurred more frequently among females compared with males. Homicides occurred most frequently among healthcare practitioners and technical occupations and healthcare support occupations, while suicides occurred most frequently among healthcare practitioners and technical occupations. Homicide decedents often knew the suspect through current or previous personal or work relationships. Most suicide decedents had a current mental health problem or symptoms.

This analysis supports existing recommendations and national priorities for preventing workplace violence and suicide in healthcare. Findings reinforce previous research and add more context to these violent deaths by presenting circumstances of non-workplace deaths. Contributors to these violent deaths are multifactorial. Further research can investigate underlying mechanisms for homicide and suicide in this healthcare worker population, particularly among certain work settings and less-studied occupation groups.

Registered nurses (RNs), the largest group of healthcare professionals, experience high rates of work-related injury leading to work absence. Transitional duty (TD) refers to structured programs designed to facilitate a safe and timely return to work by preserving and rebuilding employees’ functional capacity through temporary, modified job assignment. This study examines RNs’ lived experiences in a TD program to gain insight into its impact on six key dimensions of wellness.

This qualitative, interpretive phenomenological study, explored the lived experiences of RNs’ participating in a TD program following a work-related or personal injury. Semi-structured, in-person interviews were conducted with RNs from a large healthcare organization in Hawaii. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using deductive thematic analysis informed by the Six Dimensions of Wellness model. Trustworthiness was enhanced through independent coding, peer debriefing, and consensus discussions between researchers. This study was reported in accordance with the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines.

Eleven RNs participated in the study. They described how the TD program supported their recovery and reintegration by addressing occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional needs, enabling professional engagement, personal fulfillment, and overall wellness through flexible, structured, and purposeful workplace support.

The findings from this study suggest that TD programs play a crucial role in facilitating RNs’ return to work after medical absence.

The TD program effectively supported injured RNs in returning to their full-time roles, offering a structured approach that promoted recovery, professional engagement, and overall wellness.