ABSTRACT
This novel type of study attempts to describe the lived experiences of company nurses working in the hotel and resort industry from various areas in the Philippines where hotel and resort nursing is regarded as an occupational health nursing specialism exploring the reasons why they chose to work in the hospitality industry, their challenges, fears, and realizations. Using purposive, snowball and research self-identification sampling, the researcher chose participants based on a list of pre-prepared researcher-created criteria. Descriptive phenomenology - more specifically, Husserlian phenomenology—was used to study their answers. Based on participant narratives, the results show that few benefits were identified as operating as OHNs. However, the drawbacks continue to exceed the benefits. From their vantage point, the bad encounters had a significant influence on how they saw OHN. Even though OHN is not a very profitable nursing subspecialty, the firsthand accounts from OHNs employed in the hotel and resort sector should draw people’s eyes to the need for reform in the sector that benefits all parties involved. To corroborate the concerns expressed by these nurses working in the hospitality business, this study suggests doing more research in this nursing sector. The OHN will have a bright future in the nursing field if they can combine considerable support from the public and commercial sectors in the form of a fair and appropriate salary with well-maintained working conditions.
Keywords: lived experiences, occupational health nurses, hotels and resorts
Background of the Study
A specialization of occupational health nursing is hotel nursing. Very few people are aware that nurses exist, work in the hotel industry, and support the health of both establishment visitors and staff. In hotel nursing, facilities that allow individuals to be housed temporarily or permanently on a voluntary basis for medical treatment, rehabilitation, recreational activities, or expert aid with everyday tasks are included.
Since Phillipa Flowerday, the first known industrial nurse, was engaged by J&J Coleman (Coleman's Mustard) in 1878, occupational health nurses (OHNs) have provided care for workers all over the world. Regarding worker safety, health promotion, case management, industrial cleanliness, and education, a large portion of their practices are comparable (Ornek & Esin, 2015).
In addition to industrial settings, nurses worked in retail stores, hotels, and insurance businesses in the years leading up to the turn of the century (AAIN, 1976).
Suligoj (2011) posits that the integration of the hotel industry with the healthcare industry empowers patients, who are now viewed as guests with little capacity for self-sufficiency. This innovation happens not just in hotels but also in social service and health care facilities, as well as in the homes of patients. Sociologically speaking, the hotel sector entails competent individuals (workers) satisfying the wants, desires, and expectations of others (guests) as well as existential requirements.
Carefully rerouting patients' early impulses toward patient-centrism, which undermines the partnership in the patient-nursing care provider connection, is the key to their activities (in hotel-type nursing). To achieve the best possible outcome for patient health and self-sufficiency, nurses must offer patients expert information based on personal contact and consideration for the patient's emotional state. They must also reach an autonomous agreement with patients regarding the limitations placed on them (Kamin, 2006).
The James Lind Institute (2018) emphasizes the importance of training individuals in medical tourism, highlighting the need for collaboration between the hotel and hospitality industries. The institute emphasizes the role of multidisciplinary professionals in medical and hospitality fields and offers programs and courses for human resources training.
Health tourism is becoming more and more popular among travelers (Heung, Kucukusta, & Song, 2011; Soysal, 2017). It is a diverse industry that benefits both patients and healthcare professionals. In multicultural settings, providing nursing care and treatment to individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds might be necessary at times.
In the context of health tourism, nurses must possess certain cultural competencies and knowledge to deliver adequate and suitable treatment (Amiri and Heydari, 2017) to those seeking medical care from abroad (Soysal, 2017). To provide sensitive care to international patients, nurses should, first and foremost, be knowledgeable of other cultures as well as their own (Mubita-Ngoma and Mayimbo, 2017).
Sections 3 through 5 of RA 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, mandate the provision of a 24-hour medical clinic for guests and employees, enhancing the regulatory function of the Department of Tourism.
There are only a few published studies regarding the interaction between hotels and healthcare, but there are no studies regarding the lived experiences of nurses working in the hotel and resort industry. In addition, there are no studies regarding nurses working in the hotel industry at the international or local level.
The novel type of study aims to delve into the experiences of nurses working in hotels and resorts. The lack of studies regarding the subject matter can be used to create policies and recommendations. It will also provide certain information on the importance of nurses working in this sector and shed light on what kind of life they will have in venturing this occupation.
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