Abstract
This issue of Workplace Health & Safety contains a Continuing Nursing Education Module on “Prevention of Nurses’ Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Resulting From Repositioning Patients in Bed: Comprehensive Narrative Review” 1.0 contact hour of continuing nursing education credit will be awarded by AAOHN upon successful completion of the posttest and evaluation.
A certificate will be awarded when the following requirements are met by the participant: (1) Participant logs on to the AAOHN LMS website at www.aaohn.org/education/online-learning-center and enrolls in the course ($10 members; $15 non-members); (2) The completed posttest and course evaluation are entered online at at http://www.aaohn.org by May 2017; (3) A score of 75% (6 correct answers) is achieved by the participant.
Upon completion of this lesson, the occupational health nurse will be able to:
Discuss current scientific evidence of methods to prevent MSDs in nurses
The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is an Approved Provider of continuing nursing education by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc., an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is additionally approved as a CNE provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing (#CEP9283).
Contact hours received for successful completion of the posttest and evaluation may be used for relicensure, certification, and re-certification.
Risk factors Prevention strategies Assistive devices Early recovery strategies
Multiple indexes for their review Only experimental studies for their review Only studies with high-quality methodology for their review Studies in several languages, as long as the study was relevant for their review
Lab studies Literature reviews Surveys All of the above
Is a greater problem among nurses in developing nations Is a problem chiefly among nurses in developed countries with strong economies Is a world-wide problem Is a problem mostly in the USA
Patient lifts and transfers are the greatest problem because these activities are frequent. Repositioning patients in bed, including lifting or pulling them up to the head of the bed, is done frequently and poses a significant risk to nurses. Standing for most of the shift causes low back pain. An aging nursing population and decondition among older nurses is a greater problem for MSDs than the work nurses do.
Only those repositioning tasks that used traditional, high-friction sheets exceeded the NIOSH action level Only repositioning patients with paralysis (semi or total) resulted in exceeding the NIOSH action level Most repositioning tasks were lower than the NIOSH action level of 3,400 N Most repositioning tasks frequently exceeded the NIOSH action level of 3,400 N
Have no disadvantages other than cost, so they should be used in all institutions Has been studied sufficiently, such that almost everyone uses them routinely Are not used routinely and their actual application has not been adequately studied Have been shown to be no better than cotton sheets and cannot be recommended for reducing risk of MSDs
Since more research is needed, nurses should use strategies based on tradition and personal experience to reduce risk of MSDs at work OHNs should encourage the use of strategies that have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of MSDs at work Nurses need to work on core strength to prevent MSDs None of the above