Favourable and unfavourable elements to the participative intervention and how they were managed during the study
| Favourable and unfavourable elements | How they were managed |
|---|---|
| Importance of employer’s commitment to the research and of head nurses’ support of IT staff members | Principles established at the beginning of the research and reminded at many IT meetings |
| Communication problems within care units Preoccupation that the IT care providers would not consult their co-workers | At each IT meeting, members were invited to report on how the IT information was transmitted to colleagues and on the comments received. IT meetings’ reports were also displayed for consultation on the three targeted care units |
| Communication problems between shifts Diffusion of the intervention among care providers working on evening and night shifts with non-overlapping work schedules with day shift | The research team presented the results of data collection and of the IT work on every shifts |
| Organisational constraints One frequently reported problem was overload and employee shortage | Frequent recalls that the intervention was not aimed at bringing in more financial resources to recruit additional care providers but at changing the work organisation so as to reduce adverse psychosocial work factors |
| Development of positive social interactions among IT members Team work had to be restored within units between nurses and orderlies | Meetings of care providers and of management allowed a better comprehension of each other’s work and fostered increasing respect and collaboration |
| Management and employees’ conflicting needs and priorities | |
| Concerns that the IT union representatives might use this tribune as a forum for union related claims | It was made clear repeatedly that IT work would not focus on collective agreement topics but on work organisation improvement |
| Belief that management did not take into account employees’ needs | Bringing together management and employees on IT with a shared goal of identifying problems and solutions would bring mutual understanding of their respective duties and constraints, and favour better communication, and collaboration |