In order to implement preventive programs to prevent back pain in nurses, assessments of the degree of passivity and mobility of patients is imperative. After all, the load in health care ergonomics, is often the patient. The degree of cooperation or resistance determines the load on the back for the nurses and the necessity of the use of lifting devices like patient lifters or sliding sheets. These assessments must be done in both a practical and a reliable way. For this purpose a 3-category and a 5category system to assess the degree of patient mobility and passivity was developed and tested. The results are presented on the poster.
In hospitals many horizontal transfers (from stretcher to bed etc.) are performed from the moment a patient is admitted (f.e. with an ambulance) through examination departments all the way to the wards. These transfers can be very strenuous and solutions may be to use a special lifting device that accompanies the patient on this route: a stretcher sling This is a specially designed disposable lifting sling for horizontal transfers and repositioning, the sling can easily be connected to a ceiling or mobile lift. The ambulance service, two hospitals and a manufacturer decided to study the effects. The stretcher sling travels with the patient. Does this provide an ergonomically sound solution and is this an effective and efficient solution? The results were positive, but a behavioral change was also necessary.
Abstract:The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley with the Carevo, a shower trolley with a new design. Compared to the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley, the Carevo has higher side supports, indented curves on the long sides, handles, arrow-shaped ends, and a mattress with a flexible mid-section. In this study four nurses carried out five shower cycles using the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley and five shower cycles using the Carevo. These activities were filmed and analysed by multi-moment sampling at a fixed 3-second interval. Each observation consists of a back score, arm score, leg score and neck score. Results show that working with the Carevo leads to less postural stress on the musculoskeletal system of the caregiver, compared to the traditional heightadjustable shower trolley. There is a 10.2% improvement in time spent in a neutral back position and a 9.4% improvement in the time spent in a neutral neck position. However, the improvements depend on the cut off point: if the cut off point is a flexed back posture of 20°, a 3.0% improvement is found. Although quality of care and comfort was not the subject of this research, we would like to state there is room for improvement, as the patient spends only a small part of the total time on the trolley being showered, which can easily lead to an uncomfortable experience. This quality of care issue seems to be addressed more effectively by new features of the Carevo compared to the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.