[Implementing a “Health Promoting Workplace”: compatible organizational practices in university hospital]

In 2006, a University Hospital in Quebec decided to implement the Health Promoting Hospital project (HPH). A study was conducted on the internal context of the HPH Project implementation, and more particularly on one of its dimensions, the “health promoting workplace”. Compatibility is an important factor of the internal context, but has been rarely studied. The objective of this paper is to examine whether there are any organizational practices compatible with those of a health promoting workplace for nurses. A questionnaire was administered, interviews were conducted with strategic actors and a document analysis was performed.The results show various levels of compatibility with the criteria of a health promoting workplace. Thus, compatibility was very high for criteria related to the development of a learning and efficient organization, the strategies to ensure a healthy and safe workplace, and healthy lifestyles. However, poor compatibility was observed for criteria related to the adoption of a health promotion policy and no compatibility was observed for nurses’ participation in the decision-making process.The study identified strengths and weaknesses in the “Health Promoting Workplace” Subproject implementation process. It also emphasized the importance of the adaptation of tools to local conditions. In this case, it is the WHO assessment tool for hospitals wishing to assess their health promotion practices and to stimulate their development.