THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BACK INJURIES IN NURSES AT A LARGE CANADIAN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL - IMPLICATIONS FOR PREVENTION

Two years of prospective data on 416 back injuries were gathered at a 1100-bed acute and tertiary care hospital to assist target prevention efforts. The rate of injury among 1645 nurses was found to be highest for those working on orthopaedic, medicine, neurology, spinal and surg ery wards, indicating priorities for prevention. In fact, 51% of the o rthopaedic nurses sustained at least one back injury during the two-ye ar period. Gender did not significantly affect the risk for back injur y; however, injuries were slightly more common in nurses with less sen iority and younger nurses were found to be at significantly increased risk of back injury. Almost 63% of the back injuries which occurred in nurses working 8 h shifts on the high-risk wards occurred during the first two hours of the shift. Lifting and transferring patients with a ssistance were the two most common mechanisms for back injury (22.6% a nd 23.3%, respectively). In total, injured nurses attributed 52.3% of their injuries to inadequate training; inadequate staffing was given a s the primary reason for 13.8% of the injuries. The results suggest th at training in the indications for and use of mechanical devices for l ifting/transferring patients requires intensification, and a 'warm-up' period should also be considered in the face of injuries occurring ea rly in the shift if work activities cannot be evenly planned.