Postural analysis of nursing work

Back pain in the nursing profession is an acknowledged wide spread occupational hazard. This study used OWAS (Ovako Working posture Analysis System) to measure the severity of the working postures adopted by nurses on Care of the Elderly wards when carrying out manual handling operations for animate and inanimate loads. Twenty-six nurses were observed on 31 occasions to obtain 4299 observations, these data were collected and processed using the OWASCO and OWASAN programs, and then analysed by grouping the results into defined patient (animate) handling and non-patient (inanimate) handling tasks. A statistical comparison was made between the two groups using the percentage of action categories two, three and four, to the total number of action categories. A significant difference (p < 0.05) was found, demonstrating that the percentage of harmful postures adopted during patient handling tasks was significantly higher than during non-patient handling tasks. This high level of postural stress and the poor track record of risk management within the Health Care Industry leads to the recommendation that an attitudinal change is needed to successfully address and reduce the manual handling burden which is currently being carried by the nursing staff.