Health at the workplace in residential aged care. Status and determinants of work ability among nursing staff

Background. Qualified nursing staff is scarce in aged care. Societal trends such as the rising number of the highly aged and changing family structures will further increase demand. Decreasing work ability of an ageing workforce, frequent sick leave and early career exit can exacerbate shortages of staff in aged care. A better understanding of the interplay between health, work ability and influences of the organisation on staff health are relevant for workplace health promotion, management and policy. Objectives. Analysis of influencing factors for work ability of nursing staff in residential aged care. Materials and methods. Data were collected in a survey of employees (nursing staff n = 83) as part of a pilot project for settingoriented health promotion in three facilities of residential aged care in Vienna and analysed by means of regression models. Results. Occupational stress and time pressure, unfavourable team culture and migrant status had negative impact on the self-assessed current work ability. Medium term work ability (>= 2 years) depended to a large extent on estimation of current work ability. Further ability to work according to professional standards (based on knowledge and continuing education opportunities) was identified as a facilitating factor for stable medium term perspectives. Conclusions. The results indicate the importance of professional competence and the development of supportive organizational cultures to safeguard work ability in nurses of residential aged care. On the other hand, shortages of (time) resources exert negative influences; these findings seem relevant not only for workplace health promotion and aged care management, but also for health and social policy.