Evaluating nurses' injury rates: challenges associated with information technology and indicator content and design

Indicators are frequently used to assess, among other things, the health and safety of workers. While many administrative and management functions have been subject to computerisation in recent years, the indicators currently used to measure the occupational safety and health of workers in general, and of women workers in particular, suffer from data gaps, and hence do not provide an accurate reflection of the complex nature of women's workplace health. In this paper, we highlight the role that information systems play in the development of indicators, and address some of the problems that databases present in conducting meaningful analyses of Canadian nurses' occupational safety and health.