Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Ergonomics. 2010 Sep;53(9):1108-16. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2010.502253.
Considerable effort has been spent evaluating aspects of low back injury risk in nursing yet comprehensive evaluation of all work tasks has been limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate peak and cumulative lumbar spine loads experienced by personal support workers. A total of 20 female long-term care workers were observed and had trunk posture monitored via an inclinometer throughout their shift. When adjusted for an 8-h workday, workers experienced cumulative loads of 21.3 +/- 4.6 MNs, 1.8 +/- 0.6 MNs and 2.9 +/- 1.4 MNs for compression, lateral and anterior shear, respectively. Patient care, unloaded standing, walking and miscellaneous tasks accounted for almost 80% of cumulative compression, while lifts and transfers accounted for less than 10%. Mechanical lift assists reduced peak loads and contributed minimally to cumulative loading. These findings suggest that both peak and cumulative spine loads should be considered when evaluating injury risk in the nursing profession. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This study has shown that tasks other than patient transfers and lifts are important in the assessment of low back injury risk in nurses. The method developed is a relatively straightforward approach that can be used to estimate peak and cumulative spine load to provide insight to risk of injury in many occupational settings.
人们投入了大量精力来评估护理工作中与下背部损伤风险相关的方面，但对所有工作任务的全面评估仍很有限。本研究旨在评估个人护理员所经历的峰值和累积腰椎负荷。共观察了 20 名女性长期护理工作者，并通过测斜仪在其整个班次中监测其躯干姿势。按 8 小时工作日调整后，工人分别经历了 21.3±4.6 MNs、1.8±0.6 MNs 和 2.9±1.4 MNs 的压缩、横向和前向剪切的累积负荷。患者护理、无负载站立、行走和杂务工作占累积压缩负荷的近 80%，而举升和转移仅占不到 10%。机械举升辅助可降低峰值负荷，对累积负荷的贡献极小。这些发现表明，在评估护理职业中的损伤风险时，应同时考虑峰值和累积脊柱负荷。相关性声明：本研究表明，除了患者转移和举升之外，其他任务在评估护士的下背部损伤风险方面也很重要。所开发的方法是一种相对简单的方法，可用于估计峰值和累积脊柱负荷，为许多职业环境中的受伤风险提供深入了解。
