Health professionals trusted in wellness
Survey: Employees favor on-site nurses, consultants
Employees seeking wellness advice or program leadership are most comfortable placing their trust in health care professionals (on-site nurses or outside consultants), according to a recent survey commissioned by the Atlanta-based American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). The study was designed to:
- assess the current primary sources of health information;
- evaluate perceptions of health and safety concerns in the workplace;
- gauge the availability of and participation in wellness programs, as well as reasons for nonparticipation;
- assess the importance of health and wellness programs in the workplace;
- identify the aspects of an ideal wellness program and trusted sources of information.
The survey included men and women who were employed full time. Of those responding, 61% said health care professionals were the most trusted sources for employee wellness program information.
A tradition of trust
These results were not surprising to Jennifer J. Lim, RN, MSN, COHN-S/CM, FAAOHN, nation-al manager/health services for Comprehensive Health Services (CHS) in Westminster, CO. She manages 21 clinics throughout the United States for CHS, one of the largest providers of occupational health services in the world, with more than 9,000 affiliate health professional faculty.
"Recent surveys show firemen to be the most trusted profession, and the second is nurses," says Lim. "Before 9/11, it was always nurses."
Occupational health nurses, many of whom run wellness programs as part of a wide range of responsibilities, are integrated into the corporate or business environment and are viewed as partners. "They see employees every day — not just when they come in for a wellness activity," Lim notes. "They see them for workers’ comp issues, physicals, and so on, so a relationship is established."
The occupational health unit, she explains, is seen as a neutral place — a one-stop shop for employee health. "For a lot of employees, it’s the only place they go for regular screenings and the like," says Lim. "They trust the staff, and the department is readily accessible. Employees trust that confidentiality will be maintained and that any information they share will not impact their job in a negative way."
One interesting finding of the survey was that outside consultants were trusted slightly more than on-site nurses. Lim says she can explain that finding.
"Consultants don’t have any ties at all to the business," she observes. "If an employee had any concern at all that a manager might find out about say a mental health problem or prostate cancer, they’d have a lesser concern with someone outside the company."
So in this case, she says, more trusted does not necessarily mean more qualified. "It’s just that in some cases the employee may feel more comfortable sharing confidential information," Lim declares.
So if you manage an in-house occ-health program, who should you favor to run your wellness program — an on-site nurse or an outside consultant? "An in-house person is more ideal because they know the work environment they are in, and they can customize the program," she says. "You may want to do certain screenings, such as mammography, based on the average age of your female employees. Or when designing a diet, you would likely base it on the kind of work the employees do."
A money-saving priority
Though CHS offers a wide variety of services, "We make wellness a priority," says Lim. Looking at another survey result, it’s easy to see why: Nearly 60% of the respondents consider health and wellness program offerings from employers a viable incentive to stay at their current job.
"If a company shows that they care for the well-being of the employee as a whole person [work-life programs, benefits, etc.], those employees will be more inclined to stay with the company," she says. "Also, studies show that wellness programs will produce so much more in terms of employee morale and retention."
Lim uses the example of flu shots to illustrate her point. "In the last few years, there has been a shortage of flu shots," she observes. "Employees of companies who have purchased the shots and offered them free of charge say to themselves, My company really cares about me.’"
Not only does such an attitude aid retention, but it can provide an impressive financial return as well, says Lim. "For every day an employee is out, you have about four times the cost of a day’s salary in terms of workers’ comp and other back costs," she observes. "You need a backup worker, and there’s an impact on productivity, as well as on morale. Yet the flu shot only costs about $15."
In broader programs, such as smoking cessation or weight control classes, the benefits can be even greater. "They can impact a person’s entire sense of well-being — their work/life balance, their stress level, their whole quality of life," says Lim. "They become a happier person, and they recognize their company did that for them. And again, if you can stop one person from smoking or if you find one diabetic, the cost savings are astounding. You can pay for your entire wellness program for 10 years."
Occupational health nurses are well qualified to facilitate wellness programs because wellness education "is inherently in their training under prevention," she says. Many more of them function as in-house wellness professionals, rather than as outside consultants. "It’s usually tied to one of their many jobs," says Lim.
Despite the training, however, it’s important to bear in mind that the world of wellness is constantly changing and expanding. "Take 9/11," Lim posits. "An occupational health nurse would have studied signs and symptoms of exposure to specific chemicals or diseases, but prior to that event, they would never have had much education on bioterrorism. It’s a constant evolution."
The AAOHN survey can be viewed at www.aaohn.org.
[For more information, contact:
- Jennifer Lim, 10869 Grove Court, Westminster CO 80031.]
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