Musculoskeletal disorder risk assessment in home care nurses

Nurses constitute a professional group associated with a high risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Several studies concerning to nurses reveal that they have high prevalence rates of injuries and also of symptoms associated to WRMSDs, mainly in the back. Tasks involving patient handling are those which most often arise associated to back pain. There is a scarcity of studies on WRMSDs in home care nurses.

Based on these concerns, the main goals of the present study were to identify the main risk factors of WRMSDs for home care nurses and to perform an objective assessment of the risk for these professionals.

Two methods to quantify the risk of WRMSDs associated with nursing activities were applied: REBA - Rapid Entire Body Assessment and MAC - Manual Handling Assessment Charts. REBA and MAC methods were applied to patient handling activities and to tasks involving manual material handling, respectively.

The results indicate the presence of multiple risk factors and their important contribution to the risk level obtained: generally moderate but considered high for some activities.

Home care nursing has specific characteristics, which clearly influence the adoption of risk behaviors by the nurses.