NIOSH Research Efforts to Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Healthcare Industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Caruso C ; Collins, James H. ; Galinsky T ; Waters, Thomas R. ; Caruso C ; Collins, James H. ; Galinsky T ; Waters, Thomas R.
• Description:
  Healthcare workers, including orthopaedic nurses, face a number of risk factors in the workplace for musculoskeletal disorders such as back and shoulder injuries. These disorders are associated with excessive back and shoulder loading due to manual patient handling, applying excessive forces during pushing and/or pulling of objects, required use of awkward postures during patient care, and working long hours and shiftwork. No healthcare workers are immune from injury because workers in all clinical areas are exposed to occupational risk factors, including hospitals, nursing homes, emergency services, critical care, operating rooms, orthopaedic units, and home healthcare environments. This article includes a summary of the scientific efforts of the researchers and their partners at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in evaluating and developing the best practice recommendations for reducing risk of these disorders for exposed workers. The studies conducted by NIOSH researchers and their partners approach the problem from a variety of perspectives, ranging from comprehensive epidemiological studies examining the effectiveness of implementation of a safe patient handling and movement program to laboratory studies evaluating the biomechanical stress associated with using patient handling equipment, and education training programs for use in schools of nursing to educate new workers about safe work practices. Results of these studies have provided scientific evidence that significant occupational risks for musculoskeletal disorders exist and that effective interventions are available to reduce the risk for these workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Health Personnel Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Health-care-personnel Injuries Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Nursing Safety-education Safety-practices Safety-programs Training
• ISSN:
  0744-6020
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology ; DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  380-389
• Volume:
  25
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031662
• Citation:
  Orthop Nurs 2006 Nov-Dec; 25(6):380-389
• Contact Point Address:
  T Waters, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Applied Research and Technology, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Orthopaedic Nursing
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8b0623b4336a363eb906c4d50c193317e8bbf1bac09885c1eab3f288e653eb41909ca27d7ed2706c16aa94eed03c8d65481bda47646a21fa4ecb330a0cbe874f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185875/cdc_185875_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.13 MB ]