Abstract

This study and a previous one (Rapport R-346) show that CLSCs are having to deal with an increasing demand for services with insufficient manpower, which is forcing them to make increasing use of the services of private homecare agencies. This can result in disorganization, which affects the personnel’s work. The researchers analyzed the working and health and safety conditions of nurses from agencies collaborating with one of the previously studied CLSCs. In this report, they describe the working conditions of these nurses, who are always put in unfamiliar working situations without sufficient prior training. The report describes the main characteristics of the two studied agencies and the nurses who work for them, as well as the constraints that they face, their occupational health and safety conditions and their career and health paths. There are also comparisons between the occupational health and safety conditions of agency nurses and of nurses from the CLSCs studied. Finally, avenues of research are provided. The results can serve as guidelines for preventive action for other private agency service professions.