Date of Award
12-2022
Document Type
Dissertation - Campus Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Degree Discipline
Nursing Practice
Abstract
Musculoskeletal injuries are prevalent among nurses comparable to other industries, presumed to be hazardous such as manufacturing and construction industries. Nurses’ work requirements are dynamic, challenging, and physically demanding and require significant coordination. Research has shown that nurses continue to sustain musculoskeletal injuries while handling patients, even with great emphasis on patient handling best practices. This inquiry was guided by the following question: how will an educational intervention impact the rate of musculoskeletal injuries among long-term acute care nurses with patient handling and mobility responsibilities compared with pre-intervention rates after 12 weeks? The project explored factors that influence nurses’ safety, identified the knowledge gap in practice, and provided educational interventions to decrease musculoskeletal injuries among nurses caused by patient handling and mobility activities. The primary causes of musculoskeletal injuries are activities such as patient transfers, lifting, boosting, and repositioning.
The project included a literature review of twenty (20) peer-reviewed articles: 8 articles on the effectiveness of educational interventions; 3 on the efficacy of programs introduced in nursing practice, such as safe patient handling and mobility programs; 4 on the use of ergonomic principles; and 5 that provided recommendations. The health belief model was adopted as a theoretical framework. The project utilized a pre-post-intervention design. The data sources included both primary and secondary sources. The investigator used surveys to collect primary data and obtained secondary data from the Occupational Health Department in two occasions; before the educational interventions and compared with data collected 12 weeks after. The analysis utilized the Chi-squared test of independence. The analysis section utilized descriptive statistics. The results were valuable, indicating the need for ongoing evidence-based educational interventions to decreased musculoskeletal injuries from patient handling and mobility activities among nurses.
Date of Digitization
11/20/2024
Contributing Institution
John B Coleman Library
City of Publication
Prairie View
MIME Type
Application/PDF
Recommended Citation
Gichuru, P. K. (2022). Decreasing The Prevalence Of Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Registered Nurses In A Long-Term Acute Care Hospital: A Quality Improvement Project. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-dissertations/85