Prevalence and Risk Factors of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Health Problems among Staff Nurses

Abstract

Background: Nursing workers continue to work in different places including hospitals, institutions, and continuously demanding repetitive movements and weight lifting which predisposes them to the risk of work-related disease. Aim: A study aims to assess the prevalence and risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among staff nurses in Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. Aconvenient sample size of 100 staff nurses was selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was prepared to assess the prevalence and 4-point Likert scale was used to assess the risk factors; in addition, three yes/no questions were used to find out the risk factors.

Results: In the present study, majority of staff nurses were in the age group of 23–25 years, were females with 1–3 years of experience, and most of them are working in the general wards. The result shows that 44% of staff nurses had pain in the lower back and 42% had pain in the knee. Predisposing risk factors were among 79% of staff nurses experienced prolonged standing, 99% of staff nurses work on night duty, and 40% of staff nurses experienced mental stress.

Conclusion: The prevalence of musculoskeletal health problems among staff nurses was found to be high. Nurses are the largest number of professionals in any hospital setting. Hence, the nurses should have knowledge of working ergonomics by that we can able to reduce the work-related health problems.