Determinants associated with the incidence of occupational accidents among visiting nurses from home‐visit nursing agencies: Secondary analysis of cross‐national survey data in Japan

Aim This study aimed to determine the incidence of occupational accidents among home‐visiting nurses from home‐visit nursing agencies and relevant factors. Methods Data from a questionnaire survey, conducted in March 2020, concerning home‐visit nursing agencies were used as a secondary source. A total of 9979 agencies were surveyed. The questionnaires included items relating to the number of occupational accidents experienced by visiting nurses that occurred during a 3‐month period. The occurrence of accidents in an agency was set as a dependent variable, and logistic regression analysis was performed on its association with agency attributes. For agencies in which accidents occurred, the number of accidents per 10 full‐time‐equivalent nurses was estimated, and multiple regression analysis was administered to investigate its association with agency attributes. Results The findings of the logistic regression analysis revealed that new agencies, a greater number of full‐time‐equivalent nurses, emergency visitation support, and performing an analysis of accident cases for accident prevention were significantly associated with the occurrence of accidents. A median of 3.3 accidents occurred per 10 full‐time‐equivalent nurses at such agencies. Multiple regression analysis showed that a lower number of full‐time‐equivalent nurses was significantly associated with an increase in the frequency of accidents. Conclusions These results suggest that to devise and deploy safety measures for visiting nurses, all home‐visit nursing agencies must build reporting and analysis systems for occupational accidents among home‐visiting nurses. Moreover, ensuring safety measures for nurses working in small‐scale agencies is of utmost importance. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 588–596 .