Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine if health care workers in acute care, short stay hospitals in Los Angeles County, California, who were affected by substance abuse, emotional and/or family problems were being afforded access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Since the number of hospitals was relatively small, consisting of 136 facilities totalling 30,759 beds, the decision was made to survey the entire population. Accordingly, a researcher-designed survey was mailed to all facilities, yielding a 66.70 percent return rate (N = 88 hospitals). Results of the study revealed that although Employee Assistance Program services are available and offered to a significant number of hospital employees, there remains a sizeable segment of the health care workers at these hospitals whose needs do not appear to be met. Of those hospitals reporting utilization of Employee Assistance Programs, it was determined that employees were encouraged to take advantage of the services, and that the three most frequent problems treated were emotional, family-related, and financial issues. In general, hospitals viewed their Employee Assistance Programs as having a positive impact, especially in the areas of reduced disciplinary problems and employee absenteeism.