Article Text
Abstract
Introduction During the process of caring for patients, nursing attendants frequently require to help patients with lifting/transferring, patting/turning and rehabilitation. Nursing attendants are required to exert forceful and awkward postures for extended periods of time that caused musculoskeletal disorders. This study is to survey the work situation, physiological workloads, and musculoskeletal disorders associated with prolonged nursing attendance tasks in nursing attendants.
Method The self-administered questionnaires are assessed via a cross-sectional study of 190 female workers in Taiwan. Information is obtained on demographics, job characteristics, health status, and physiological workload.
Results and Discussion The observational result shows that the most common prevalence of physical discomfort was lower back (69.5%), followed by right shoulder (47.9%), left shoulder (44.2%), and neck (37.9%). Meanwhile, the most pronounced tired is to help patients with lifting/transferring (79.2%), followed by patting/turning (55.1%). The anticipated results of this study could be a workplace task design reference for improvement of musculoskeletal fatigue and disorders among nursing attendants.