CE Module: The Comorbidity of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Depression: Associations with Working Conditions Among Hospital Nurses

This issue of Workplace Health & Safety contains a Continuing Nursing Education Module for 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 http://www.aaohn.org by July 2022; (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 strategies and the role of OHNs to reduce the comorbidity between MSDs and depression in hospital nurses.

• Identify the leading causes of MSDs that lead to pain, disability, and depression.

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.

1. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among nurses are associated with indirect costs such as:

2. Worker compensation fees

3. Lost workdays

4. Medical bills and rehabilitation

Nurses are susceptible to MSDs because: (Please mark all that apply)

They are exposed to sick people

They do not practice exercise and stretching such as yoga

They are exposed to heavy lifting such as when transferring and repositioning patients

Working long shifts exacerbate injuries

One of the objectives of this study was to:

Examine why nurses are susceptible to MSDs

Examine gender differences in MSD injuries in nurses

Describe the prevalence of the comorbidity of MSDs and depression in hospital nurses

Describe how hospital nurses can avoid getting depressed

The research design for this study on MSDs and depression includes:

Randomized sampling method

Longitudinal research design

Cross-sectional analysis of a convenience sample

Recruitment of only full-time registered and licensed practical nurses

Study measures include:

MSDs survey on back pain and the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS)

Six body regions MSDs scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Stud-ies Depression Scale (CES-D)

The American Working Conditions Survey to assess working conditions

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measured stress in the workplace

In the study, nearly fifty percent (50%) of the nurses reported MSDs in at least one of the six body regions. The body region with the highest prevalence for MSDs is:

Neck and shoulder

Wrist and forearm

Low back

Knee, ankle, feet

Shift work and long work hours are associated with a higher prevalence of the MSDs-depression comorbidity. The shift and hours most commonly associated with this comorbidity are:

Eight-hour day shift

Eight-hour evening shift

Eight-hour night shift and twelve-hour day shift

Weekend eight-hour day shift

Strategies to help nurses reduce the incidence and comorbidity of MSDs and depression include:

Structuring work schedules to allow sufficient recovery between shifts

Reducing nurses’ work-family conflict through collective goals and modeling effective work-family management strategies

Involve nurses in decisions about work activities and staffing

All the above