Many years ago I worked as a school nurse at a local grammar school. While performing a vision screening one afternoon, I leaned forward to point to a particular letter on the chart. At that moment I felt a “pop” in my back. The next morning I woke to searing pain in my left leg and numbness in my left foot, but  still didn’t associate it with the vision screening until a neurologist pointed out that the pop I felt was probably the very point at which I herniated a disc damaged years earlier in an accident.

Because I hadn’t made the association, I hadn’t reported it to my supervisor, and the incident was thus not covered as a worker’s compensation accident, something that could have made a significant financial difference. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing aids, orderlies and attendants account for more musculoskeletal disorders than truck drivers and laborers, with registered nurses not far behind. The U.S. Department of Labor (www.bls.gov) has reported that the number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses actually declined during the period 1995–2004, and there may be two reasons for that.

The first is that nursing management began to support actions that eliminate the need for patient handling by using assistive equipment. This includes items like full body slings, stand-assist lifts, and latent transfer and friction reducing devices.

The second is that nurses began to make contractual demands for provisions that would include trained lift teams at their facilities. For more information about this, see the 11/6/2007 press release at www.calnurse.org. Even politicians have introduced legislation to force facilities to use language that spells out exactly what type of lifting should be prohibited and how healthcare workers can be protected from injury.

 With luck and good body dynamics, you’ll save yourself months of recovery from painful back strain during your nursing career. You can put that time to work thinking about how you want to be pampered on Nurse Appreciation Day next May.  

Check what Kim has to say about some of the suggestions at www.emergiblog.com/2008/02/i-have-enough-water-bottles-thank-you.html. Share it with your administration and maybe you can spare yourself another mug.

Christine Contillo, RN, BSN, has worked as a nurse since 1979 and has written extensively for various nursing publications, as well as the New York Times.

4 COMMENTS

• Lizzie

  We should not overlook injuries that are slow to manifest, like T. B. tests that convert, etc. Also the burden of proof should not fall unequally on the practitioner. At the least, a better balance needs to be in play. Sure, employers get stuck with compensation claims that are dishonest but I am willing to bet that many nurses are injured at work, don't realize they are, and never make claims that would be justified or don't make claims because they can't prove the injury most likely occurred at work. Think about the health care workers who contracted HIV before transmission was clear and who were put through the ringer trying to obtain compensation.

  Aug 30, 2008

• Anne Stanton, RN

  The hospitals are concerned about Workers' Comp claims. They must be. Doesn't it also seem like the patient population is getting heavier? Stats show that 2 in 3 Americans is either overweight or obese, so these are the patients we are lifting.

  Aug 30, 2008

• Renata Remedios, RN, BSN

  It seems that more hospitals are understanding the injury risk faced by nurses and investing in patient-lifting and sliding equipment. Obviously, a nurse who is injured is a nurse who is not on the floor, so hospitals have an incentive to invest in these devices.

  Aug 30, 2008

• Mr. Wonderful

  I am always overexerting myself on the job. I know, not smart, it’s just the testosterone in me. While nurses may not be basketball players, we are similarly always on our feet. While we have the job of caring for others, it’s important to look out for ourselves too.

  Aug 29, 2008