The Impact of Nurses' Health on Productivity and Quality of Care By: Susan Letvak, Christopher Ruhm, Susan Lane This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in Letvak, S. & Ruhm, C., Lane, S. (2011). The impact of nurse health on productivity and quality of care. Journal of Nursing Administration, 41 (4), 162-167. Made available courtesy of Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0b013e3182118516 ***© Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction is authorized without written permission from Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. This version of the document is not the version of record. Figures and/or pictures may be missing from this format of the document. *** Abstract: An aging workforce and high-stress environments have led to more nurses working with their own health problems, which in turn affects productivity. To assess this issue, the authors conducted focus groups with nurses and nurse managers. The authors discuss their findings and their implications for more proactively addressing issues that relate to health problems in nurses and the workplace changes that are needed to support nurses with health problems to ensure patient safety and quality care. Keywords: Nursing | Health | Productivity | Quality of care Article: Hospital leaders are demanding a more productive workforce at a time of increased patient acuity, increasing governmental mandates, and an increased focus on patient safety and quality of care. A meta-synthesis of 94 research studies prepared for AHRQ demonstrated that a productive nursing workforce is vital to quality healthcare, 1 and an important contributor to productivity is worker health. 2 Nurses suffer from high rates of musculoskeletal pain and occupational injury, which have been found to contribute to reduced productivity. 3,4 Although survey research has demonstrated that nurse health may lead to decreased productivity and concerns with quality of care, it is also important to understand how specific factors about nurse health, productivity, and quality of care can be used by nurse managers to better support their nurses. Work Productivity Major causes of decreased work productivity are health problems, especially musculoskeletal problems and mental health issues (primarily depression). 5 More than 72% of workers with