Preventing Back Injuries - 0.2 CEUs

Preventing Back Injuries

Back injuries including herniated discs, strained muscles, pulled or torn ligaments and disc degeneration are the most common work injuries among healthcare workers. Registered nurses, Licensed Practical nurses, nursing assistants, orderlies etc., can suffer from back injuries caused by everyday tasks or workplace accidents.  Healthcare workers are susceptible to back injuries due to their duties which often require moving, lifting, and repositioning patients. Healthcare workers consistently rank among top occupations with disabling back injuries, primarily from manually lifting patients. Back injury may be the single largest contributor to the nursing shortage. Reported injuries to certified nursing assistants are three to four times that of registered nurses. The problem of lifting patients is compounded by the increasing weight of patients to be lifted due to the obesity epidemic in the United States and the rapidly increasing number of older people who require assistance with the activities of daily living (CDC, 2008). Many of these tasks can cause sprains and strains because of the awkward positions the worker needs to be in to maneuver a patient. Patients often need to be moved or re-positioned several times throughout the day which can result in repetitive motion injuries. Fatigue due to mandatory overtime, extended hours and being short staffed also increase the risk of a healthcare worker back injury.

Body mechanics training alone is ineffective in prevention of back injury with patient lifting. Mandated use of mechanical patient lift equipment has proven to prevent most back injury to nursing personnel and reduce pain and injury to patients associated with manual lifting. With the national epidemic of morbid obesity in our country, innovative devices are available for use in emergency medical systems and hospitals for patient lifting and transfer without injury to hospital personnel. The US healthcare industry has not voluntarily taken measures necessary to reduce patient handling injury by use of mechanical lift devices. US healthcare workers who suffer disabling work-related back injuries are limited to the fixed, and often inadequate, relief which they may obtain from workers' compensation. Under workers' compensation law, healthcare workers injured lifting patients may not sue their employer for not providing mechanical lift equipment.

Implementing and following an ergonomics program into the workplace can prevent healthcare work injuries. A program should include a commitment from the management to involve employees in reporting risk factors that can cause workplace injury. Workers should have access to injury logs and incident reports and feel encouraged to report workplace risks. Healthcare worker injury risk factors can also be identified by examining the number of times a patient needs to be moved, how much force it takes to move the patient, how far the patient must be moved and any obstacles that may be in the moving path. Once the risks have been identified, steps can be taken to eliminate workplace hazards. Installing equipment to assist workers in moving and lifting patients such as overhead track lifts, portable total lifts, reduced friction sheets and transfer boards can help to prevent workplace back injuries. For other healthcare jobs there are lightweight service carts, laundry carts with adjustable height mechanisms, and ergonomically designed cleaning tools, all of which are designed to reduce back injuries.

Healthcare worker safety is also dependent upon the timely management of workplace injuries. Workers should be trained to recognize the symptoms of a back injury and should be encouraged to seek a medical provider that focuses on treating back injuries. Management needs to allow ample time away from work for the back injury to heal or to adjust the worker’s responsibilities to light duty work without the worker losing their seniority, benefits or pay. Employers who invest in ergonomics programs to protect the safety of healthcare workers reap the benefits of increased productivity and healthy work environments.