What Do We Know About Interventions to Prevent Low Back Injury and Pain Among Nurses and Nursing Students? A Scoping Review

The importance of integrating flexible learning methods (audio-visual animation vs. visual pamphlet) to enhance awareness, perspectives, and practices in preventing lower back pain in nurses. A quasi-experimental study

Background and Aims

Nurses are highly susceptible to developing low back pain (LBP), which is considered a common occupational hazard. The present study investigated the efficacy of flexible learning methods on the nurses' awareness, perspectives, and practice regarding the prevention of LBP.

Methods

In pre-test posttest quasi-experimental study conducted from June to December 2019, 153 eligible nurses working in three hospitals were participated. Researchers divided the hospitals into three groups with similar numbers of participants (around 55 each) using a random process. One group received an educational intervention using an audio-visual animation, another group got a visual pamphlet, and the last group served as a control with no intervention. All nurses completed a validated questionnaire designed by the researchers to assess their awareness, perspectives, and practices related to preventing lower back pain. The questionnaire was given three times: before the intervention, 1 week after, and 4 weeks after.

Results

The study found that participants in the audio-visual and visual pamphlet groups scored significantly higher on awareness, perspective, and practice measures compared to the control group. Interestingly, the visual pamphlet group showed even greater awareness and practice scores compared to the audio-visual group (p < 0.001). However, the audio-visual group achieved a higher perspective score compared to the visual pamphlet group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Nurses' perspective, awareness, and practice towards LBP prevention can be improved by blending the visual pamphlet and audio-visual animation.

Save Your Back: Comparison of the Compressive Force on the Lower Back Based on Differences in the Training Techniques

INTRODUCTION

Musculoskeletal injury prevention for nurses is aimed at removing the need to manually position patients. In the ED, this is not always possible or practical. The purpose of this study is to compare the calculated estimated compressive force on the lumbar spine between recommended lifting techniques and the SHAPE lifting method during the horizontal transfer of a patient.

METHODS

Twenty-one student nurses completed the horizontal transfer of a simulated patient while motion was collected using inertial measurement units. Motion data were analyzed to calculate an estimated compressive force on the lumbar spine while completing the movement based on current recommended lifting methods and while using the SHAPE lifting method.

RESULTS

A significant reduction in estimated peak and average compressive force at the lumbar spine was found during both the push and the pull portions (P < .001) of the horizontal transfer.

DISCUSSION

While the optimal way to limit musculoskeletal injury among nurses is to eliminate the need for manual handling of a patient, this is not always possible in the ED. It is critical that when emergency nurses must reposition a patient, they perform the movement in the most biomechanically sound method while using a friction reduction. These findings, coupled with the previous biomechanical risk factor reduction related to the SHAPE lifting intervention, gives promise to a safer lifting strategy for emergency nurses moving forward.

Occupational low back pain prevention capacity of nurses in China: A multicenter cross-sectional study

Introduction

Nurses have a high prevalence of occupational low back pain, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased the nurses' workloads. It has brought a huge burden on nurses and their professional development. Nurses' occupational low back pain prevention capacity is the logical starting point and core of interventions to prevent its occurrence. To date, there is no study investigating it with a scientific scale. Therefore, a multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the current status of nurses' capacity in occupational low back pain prevention and its influencing factors in China.

Methods

Using a two-stage, purposive and convenience mixed sampling method, 1331 nurses from 8 hospitals across 5 provinces (Hubei, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan) in the southern, western, northern, and central areas of mainland China were involved in this study. The demographic questionnaire and occupational low back pain prevention behavior questionnaire were used for data collection. The descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, and multiple stepwise linear regression were used for data analysis.

Results

The results showed that the occupational low back pain prevention behavior questionnaire score was 89.00 (80.00, 103.00) [M (Q1, Q3)], which indicated that nurses' ability was at a moderate level. Participation in prevention training before, perceived stress at work, and working hours per week were predictors for nurses' occupational low back pain prevention capacity.

Discussion

To improve nurses' prevention ability, nursing managers should organize various training programs, strengthen regulations to reduce nurses' workload and stress, provide a healthy workplace, and offer incentives to motivate nurses.