Investigation of the Factors Contributing to Various Maladies of the Nursing Staff Spinal Column
Abstract
Introduction It is usual for a great part of the nurses to complain about different maladies on their spinal column. The possible causes might be due to factors in an immediate relation to the profession. Aim: Investigating the factors which contribute to diseases of the spinal column in nurses. Material and method: For data collection we used anonymously a questionnaire, which was developed based on the international bibliography. This questionnaire was filled in by 410 nurses working on hospitals, rest houses for the elderly, health centers and social insurance institutions. The statistical program used was the package SPSS for Windows and x2 test was used. Results: A 62% of nurses stated some kind of spinal column malady. A 35.4% reported that this malady first appeared immediately after their nomination as nurses and a 60.2% believe that the main cause for any malady of this kind is the fact that they are usually obliged to carry patients or different heavy objects. A 51.9% of the study participants who reported a daily rest of more than one hour, did not suffer from any spine column malady (p<0.0001). A 73.9% of nurses stated that their spinal column diseases were due to the increasing demands of their job. They consider that these problems are actually a result of a tight work schedule. On the contrary another 57.1% believed that these are not really due to the increasing demands of their job (p<0.01). A 62.5% of nurses reported that their spinal column problems was developed because the increasing demands of their work, consider that these are due to inadequate number of nurses (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The present study confirmed the presence of various factors that are held culpable for the creation of vertebral column disorders to nurses. Given that the working demands at hospitals increase constantly, planning in-hospital educational programs and seminars to inform and sensitize nurses regarding disorders of the musculoskeletal system, the factors that cause them and their prevention, is considered necessary.