Low Back Pain in Student Nurses: Literature Review and Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

There is consensus that registered nurses worldwide have a high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, particularly of the back. Patient handling activities such as lifting present the highest risk of injury, activities that begin in nursing school. A literature review identified 21 studies of back pain in nursing students, indicating a wide range of prevalence rates. A prospective cohort study of nursing students in a United States baccalaureate program followed 119 students who completed the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire upon beginning the 16 month upper division major and then a year later. There was no statistically significant change in low back pain prevalence over time. While nursing students have intermittent and brief exposure to patient handling activities, nursing schools must nevertheless protect them before they enter the high risk profession of nursing by teaching evidence-based safe patient handling techniques, empowering students to refuse unsafe manual lifts, and ensuring that the clinical settings with which they affiliate have adequate mechanical equipment available.

Musculoskeletal symptoms in nursing students: concept analysis

“…Ten articles that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Regarding the year of publication, articles were published in 2004 (18) , 2009 (19) , 2010 (17,20) , 2014 (14)(15) , 2015 (1) , 2016 (16,21) , and 2017 (18) .…”

“…On what concerns the countries of origin, articles are from Australia (18)(19) , India (20) , Brazil (5,18) , USA (16) , Gana (1) , Portugal (21) , UK (17) and Sweden (14)(15) .…”

“…In the primary studies, the samples varied between 59 (19) and 1.163 (15) students. Nine descriptive studies (1,14,16,18,21) were included with the level of evidence III and a narrative review of the literature, with level of evidence IV (17) .…”

“…Based on the searched articles, and after the analysis of the above table, different forms of expression emerged to describe the musculoskeletal symptomatology. In this analysis, the most evident terms were musculoskeletal disorders (1,14,(17)(18) , musculoskeletal symptoms (5,14,16,(19)(20) , work-related symptoms (5) and, finally, musculoskeletal injuries (17) .…”

“…Concerning the consequences we highlight: changes in quality of life (14,16,18,20) sleep and rest (14,16) , anxiety (5,14,16,20) , academic stress (1,20) and wellbeing (5,14,16,20) .…”