Back injuries can be, well, a pain – and a financial drain. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is the profession most at-risk for back injuries. Disabling pain and back injuries affect almost 40% of nursing staff. But despite the high incidence of injury, there is no standardized method for teaching nurses to manually move patients.
A new study published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing examined four different training protocols and found that contextual training, or realistic training based on actual scenarios nurses encounter in a typical work day, is the most effective in decreasing on-the-job injuries. While the study size was small (just 16 nurses), the results of the study are an important step forward in decreasing injury.
Sources:
http://www.jenonline.org/article/S0099-1767%2808%2900588-6/abstract
http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/cgi/content/full/12/5/400
http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article1509.html