Economic Evaluation of a Workplace Occupational Health Nursing Service: Based on Comparison with Atmospheric Environment Managing Engineer

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to use cost-benefit analysis of activity to clarify the economic effect of prepared nurses versus atmospheric environment managing engineers as healthcare managers. METHODS: For the study 111 workplaces were surveyed, workplaces in which nurses or atmospheric environment managing engineers were employed as healthcare managers. The survey content included annual gross salaries, participation in external job training, costs in joining association covered by the company, location and year of construction of the healthcare office, various kinds of healthcare expenditures, costs in operating healthcare office, health education, and activity performance in the work of environment management. RESULTS: In the case of the healthcare manager being a nurse, benefit was larger than input costs at a ratio of 2.31. On the other hand, in the case of healthcare manager being an atmospheric environment managing engineer, input costs were larger than benefits (benefit-cost ratio 0.88). CONCLUSION: Results indicate that nurses are an effective healthcare human resource and can offer good quality healthcare service. Therefore companies should hire nurses and actively promote the economic efficiency of nurses in workplace.

Perspectivas da enfermagem do trabalho frente ao contexto atual de saúde do país / Perspectives of the occupational nursing facing the current context of health in the country

O momento de crise pelo qual vêm passando as profissöes da área da saúde pode ter duas consequências: a primeira, pode ser perigosa para a afirmaçäo profissional; a segunda pode ser uma oportunidade para reexaminarem as propostas filosóficas de assistência e estabelecimentos de prioridades para a prática da enfermagem do trabalho. Deve-se, portanto, encarar a segunda opçäo-oportunidade para rever e transformar a prática assintencial-aproveitando os novos caminhos que devem surgir na busca da expansäodo novo papel do enfermeiro na sociedade, em consonância com a nova Lei do Exerc161cio da Enfermagem (Lei n§7.498, de 25/06/86).