Affiliations: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health,
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia | School of Education, Faculty of Education and Arts,
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia | School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health,
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Note: [] Corresponding author: Carole James, School of Health Sciences,
University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia. Tel.:
+61 02 49216632; Fax: +61 02 49216998; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: BACKGROUND: There is little health specific literature on returning
nurses with injuries to work despite the high incidence of injuries and the
workforce shortages of these professionals. OBJECTIVE: To identify enabling factors and barriers to
return-to-work for nurses with injuries from the perspective of return-to-work
coordinators. PARTICIPANTS: Workplace return-to-workcoordinators employed in a
health or disability facility who had worked on a rehabilitation case with a
nurse with injuries in the past 12 months in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
METHOD: Five focus groups were conducted with 25 return-to-work
coordinators from 14 different organisations, representing different health
sectors (aged, disability, public and private hospital and community health) in
metropolitan and rural areas of NSW, Australia. RESULTS: This study reports findings specifically relating to the
provision of suitable duties for nurses with injuries. Four key themes were
identified: suitable duties; supernumerary positions; nurse specialisation and
tailoring of return-to-work plans. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified that return-to-work coordinators
were resourceful and innovative in their approach to the provision of suitable
duties for nurses with injuries and highlighted the importance of including
clinical duties in any return-to-work program and of tailoring the
return-to-work to the nurses' work and personal circumstances.
Keywords: Suitable duties, workplace based return-to-work, health sector, qualitative
