Source
Ergonomics: Design, Integration and Implementation. Brinkerhoff BN, ed., New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2009 Jun; :223-234
Abstract
Healthcare workers who routinely lift and move patients, such as nurses and nursing aides, have a higher risk of musculoskeletal injuries than workers in most other occupations. Recently-documented rates of injury due to overexertion in hospital and extended care nursing personnel were 70.5 and 138.3 per 10,000 workers, respectively. By comparison, the average rate of work-related overexertion injuries for all U.S. industries is 30.8 per 10,000 workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics -- BLS, 2006). For several years, overexertion injury rates for health care workers have ranged from two to five times the national rate for all industries, and have exceeded rates in other strenuous occupations such as construction and mining (BLS, 1994-2(06). Whereas rates of work-related injuries in most other occupations have been decreasing during the past decade, rates of musculoskeletal injuries in nursing personnel are epidemic (Owen, 1999) and have continued to increase (Fragala and Bailey, 2003).
Keywords
Biomechanics; Body-mechanics; Ergonomics; Force; Health-care; Health-care-personnel; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Muscle-function; Muscle-physiology; Muscle-stress; Musculoskeletal-system; Musculoskeletal-system-disorders; Nurses; Occupational-hazards; Occupational-health-nursing; Occupational-health-services; Occupational-safety-programs; Safety-climate; Safety-education; Safety-practices; Statistical-analysis; Work-analysis; Work-operations; Work-performance; Workplace-studies; Work-practices