Australian emergency nurses' lumbar movement during a shift: An observational study.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Ergonomics
• Nursing Research

Background:

• Emergency nurses experience higher rates of lumbar pain compared to the general workforce.
• This study pioneers real-time monitoring to quantify lumbar movements in emergency department (ED) nurses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the real-time lumbar movements of nurses across different clinical roles within an Australian emergency department.
• To identify if specific clinical roles are associated with movement patterns that predict lumbar pain.

Main Methods:

• A prospective observational case study design was employed with emergency nurses in a single Australian ED.
• Data collection included participant demographics, pre- and post-shift lumbar pain assessments, and real-time lumbar movement monitoring.
• Participants were categorized by their clinical roles: In-charge, triage, resuscitation, and cubicles.

Main Results:

• Sixty-two nurses participated in the study.
• Statistically significant differences in time spent standing (p = 0.005), sitting (p ≤ 0.001), and locomotion (p ≤ 0.001) were observed across clinical roles.
• Triage nurses exhibited distinct movement patterns, including spending over half their shift sitting, experiencing the most sustained flexions (> 30 s, 60+ degrees), and having a median of 4 periods of uninterrupted sitting (10-30 mins) per shift.

Conclusions:

• Significant variations in movement demands exist among different clinical roles within the ED.
• Triage roles are associated with increased uninterrupted sitting and sustained lumbar flexion, both identified as predictors of back pain.
• Findings suggest that triage may not be the most suitable placement for healthcare staff recovering from back injuries.