The modern way of life is burdened by stress combined with unhealthy physical exertion and the decrease in healthy physical activity. This type of lifestyle inevitably leads to high morbidity. Health workers are often at the top of the list when looking at work-related injuries. Back pain due to manual handling of the patients is a common example. Medical assistant personnel take the second, whereas medical nurses the sixth place on the list of most common jobs associated with risk of muscle and joint strain. (
Work-related injuries occur in the setting where the mechanical burden is greater than the capacity of the musculoskeletal system. Inflammation can occur at the muscle or tendon origin often followed by functional restrictions. Early bone and cartilage degeneration may follow in the long run. Indulging in a recommended amount of healthy physical activity, understanding guidelines to work assignments and taking reasonable time before returning to work after injury can help prevent further injury development. In the setting of an injury a faster recovery and return to the workplace can be achieved through rehabilitation with gradual increase in strain. In order to prevent future work-related injuries, it is necessary to collect and understand data that interprets the potential health hazards at the workplace.
Ergonomics is a field that examines the factors that can improve the conditions of the workplace. The conditions of workplace are directly connected to the rate production and the amount of work-related injuries. One of the main goals in this field is the reduction of these injuries, creation of a healthy work environment and proposal of healthy habits for the staff. With this in mind we can surely understand the importance of ergonomics in the medical setting.
It is crucial to educate medical nurses about the hazards of the work environment and the guidelines that the ergonomics field suggests regarding the way nurses do their job. Furthermore, education should familiarize the nurses with the devices that can prevent injury development. Ergonomic methods offer solutions to many of the noted problems – in the form of patient cranes or other devices that reduce the strain to the nurses’ musculoskeletal system. Unfortunately, medical staff often does not have these devices in their work settings. By becoming an active figure in the improvement of their own health and workplace, medical nurses will be able to provide better service to the patient. By gradually adjusting the ergonomics of their workplace (by providing necessary devices or implementing healthy posture and increasing physical activity, among others) work-related injuries, the ‘disease of the third millennium’, could be prevented and hopefully overcome in the future.