2019, Cilt 6, Sayı 3, Sayfa(lar) 177-188
Analysis of Physical Forces Exposed by Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units
Ebru ARSLAN ÖZDEMİR1, Özlem ÖRSAL2
1Hemşire, Atatürk Devlet Hastanesi, Zonguldak, Türkiye
2Doç. Dr., Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Hemşirelik Bölümü, Eskişehir, Türkiye
Keywords: Intensive care units, musculoskeletal system, nursing, posture

Aim: During the shift, nurses working in intensive care units perform activities that require physical strain such as lifting, pushing and turning patients who weigh much more than their own weight. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the repetitive movements observed in nurses working in intensive care units and musculoskeletal disorders according to ergonomic risk analysis.

Material and Methods: This study was conducted with 98 nurses working in five intensive care units of a state hospital between February-April 2017 by using a questionnaire developed by the researchers and REBA employee evaluation form through observations.

Results: The mean age of the nurses was 32.50±7.3 and the mean body mass index was 23.51. It was found that 46.9% of the nurses worked in 3rd stage ICU, 29.6%, 2nd stage ICU, 9.2% in Coronary ICU, 6.1% in Chest ICU and 8.2% in Neurology ICU. was also found. In our study, the mean score obtained from REBA was 8.71 ± 1.74 (min. 5.00 - max. 13.00) as a result of body posture evaluation in the repetitive movements of the nurses and 63.3% of the nurses were found to be at high risk. The REBA scores of the nurses with neck, shoulder, back and ankle pain were higher (p <.05).

Conclusion: Most of the nurses working at intensive care unit have musculoskeletal problems. It will be beneficial to use beds / assist devices which reduce the burden of nurses in patient positioning in intensive care units.