Disciplines

Nursing

Abstract (300 words maximum)

Nurses have a very high susceptibility to back injuries due to the physical demands of the job. While there are safety measures in place, back injuries are still the number one cause of workplace injuries in this field (Ibrahim et al., 2020). This is an important problem to understand because workplace injuries in the nursing field affect more than just the injured nurse. When nurses and care partners are not in their best health, they are unable to treat the client with a high standard of care. Injuries can also lead to staffing shortages which in turn, leads to a decline in the quality of care available for patients. Research shows that the lack of assisted devices on medical units was the most reported cause of back injury among nurses and care partners. (Andersen et al., 2019). This study will follow the Neurological IMCU at Kennestone Hospital’s implementation of the use of Hercules beds to determine if the use of this assistive device can reduce back injuries among nurses and increase patient satisfaction regarding being repositioned in bed. Surveys will be distributed among the nursing staff before the implementation of this intervention to gather baseline data about self-reported back injuries amongst the staff. The beds are being used in all IMCU rooms over the course of the semester. Throughout a 4 month period, nurses, care partners, and clients on the unit will be interviewed about their experiences using the beds in order to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. At the end of the semester a final survey will be distributed, and the data gathered will be compared to the initial survey in order for researcher to have an understanding of how the use of the Hercules beds, in comparisons to current practices, has an effect on back injuries.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

Wellstar School of Nursing

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Dr. Christie Emerson

Additional Faculty

Lynnda Campbell, Nursing, ljc4561@kennesaw.edu

Included in

Nursing Commons

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BACK INJURIES AMONG NURSES: AN INTERVENTION TO REDUCE INJURY AND INCREASE PATIENT SATISFACTION

Nurses have a very high susceptibility to back injuries due to the physical demands of the job. While there are safety measures in place, back injuries are still the number one cause of workplace injuries in this field (Ibrahim et al., 2020). This is an important problem to understand because workplace injuries in the nursing field affect more than just the injured nurse. When nurses and care partners are not in their best health, they are unable to treat the client with a high standard of care. Injuries can also lead to staffing shortages which in turn, leads to a decline in the quality of care available for patients. Research shows that the lack of assisted devices on medical units was the most reported cause of back injury among nurses and care partners. (Andersen et al., 2019). This study will follow the Neurological IMCU at Kennestone Hospital’s implementation of the use of Hercules beds to determine if the use of this assistive device can reduce back injuries among nurses and increase patient satisfaction regarding being repositioned in bed. Surveys will be distributed among the nursing staff before the implementation of this intervention to gather baseline data about self-reported back injuries amongst the staff. The beds are being used in all IMCU rooms over the course of the semester. Throughout a 4 month period, nurses, care partners, and clients on the unit will be interviewed about their experiences using the beds in order to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. At the end of the semester a final survey will be distributed, and the data gathered will be compared to the initial survey in order for researcher to have an understanding of how the use of the Hercules beds, in comparisons to current practices, has an effect on back injuries.