Back pain in nursing

Back pain in nursing

What is ‘BackCare Awareness Week’?

‘BackCare Awareness Week’ is an charitable event, organised by the charity BackCare, with the prime objective to raise awareness and reduce the agony of back pain. The charity aims to inform and educate people and organisations effected by it, as well as driving forward funding into the research, prevention and management of back pain.

Their main area of interest this year is focused on ‘Back Pain in Nursing’. This event to raise awareness for those looking after our most vulnerable, is occurring from 5th to 9th October 2020.

Did you know?

Muscle and joint pain remain a major hinderance to nurses and healthcare employees
Back pain remains the primary reason for time off work
Most nurses report cases of low back and leg pain whilst working
Nurses are required to provide care in environments with unsuitable conditions, eg. in corridors, overflow rooms and in a few rare cases, storerooms for privacy
Equipment such as hoists, sheets slides, on top of better training have helped reduce, but not removed these cases of back pain
Nurses are more likely to suffer from back pain than the general public.
Shift work can lead to increase prevalence of symptoms due to change of schedule

Help & guidance

BackCare has provided a great document on ‘Handling of People’ to help those in the care industry which looks at how to look after yourself whilst looking after others. It is widely endorsed by many organisations including the Royal College of Nursing and College of Occupational Therapists.

Some of the advice given to nurses from the program includes:

Identify areas which cause pain and get help to perform these more safely.
Get other workers input to find better ways of operating.
Consider making tasks physically easier, eg. adding wheels to lifting and moving
Look out for signs of backpain in co-workers
Encourage better reporting of pains in work

Low back pain is the most common health problem among adults that results in pain and disability – meaning everyone should take notice of the advice and information that is freely available during BackCare Awareness Week. Most pain comes from a non-sinister and non-pathological cause and can be helped by improving the mechanics of the back.

What are ProHealth Chiropractic doing to help?

We know from years of experience how moving and patient handling affects the human body and can cause issues due to repetitive strain, or heavier single load movements. We understand that the positions the nurses and practitioners need to put themselves in to help others is far from ideal, but we are here to help.

We do not want nurses or carers working through pain and having a stiff upper lip. We want to make sure all those who need help are given the best care possible. With this in mind, we have introduced a ‘Blue Light Card’ discount into the clinic to give back to those who help and will give special focus to those in the nursing profession for the week commencing the 5^th October. We hope to be able to keep this discount offer long after BackCare Awareness week.

For this week, any nurses coming into the clinic for care will also receive a selection of complimentary products to aid recovery, including Snowdrop gel, ice packs and a resistance band to start their rehabilitation to a better back.

Finally, we would like to share a list of 5 essentials we think can help nurses reduce the likelihood of injury.