My aching back, three words I do not want to ever say!

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

I am a second year student in a BSN program. We spent about one day the first semester on the proper way to lift patients. They taught us many different routines and we practiced them on each other. My problem is this: I am 5'1 and I only weigh 106. I do not have a strong back at all (you can see my spine through the skin in my thoracic region) I am not anorexic or bulimic, I am just a very petite person; so is my mother, and my fathers mother, and my cousin.....we are just small people. This should not stop me from being a great nurse. The first semester it did not really bother me because I was at a hospital that had a lift team. The second semester there was not one. I had to go get another student to move every one, even just moving some one up in bed. I exercise with Denise Austin every weekday morning and it is great that I am getting flatt abs and a tight rear, but I am not getting a strong back. Do you know of exercises to build back muscles or maybe a book? THANKS!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

you want strong arms & legs, not really a strong back, I'm a rather small person too 5'7 118lbs and i can lift with the strongest person in my class with out using my back, it's all technique and it takes practice with someone willing to get tossed around like a rag doll a few times lol

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
you want strong arms & legs, not really a strong back, I'm a rather small person too 5'7 118lbs and i can lift with the strongest person in my class with out using my back, it's all technique and it takes practice with someone willing to get tossed around like a rag doll a few times lol

Right, because you do not lift with your back, but wouldn't is still be adventagous to have a strong one>

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My favorite exercise for the low back is to lay on your stomach with your arms in front of you (like superman ;)) and then alternate lifting your right leg and left arm together - hold for a minute, and then left the left leg and right arm. Advanced version, you can lift both arms and legs together. Great for the low back.

I have chronic low back problems, and I also go to a chiropractor. It hasn't fixed it altogether, but it helps - my back doesn't hurt every day . . . I have bad days and good days. I do worry about nursing and being on my feet all day, much less lifting patients!

HTH

Kelly

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Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

Danger Vent warning:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

It's so unnecessary for you all to be hurting yourselves!! How many nurses are there in the US? Start campaigning for non lifting policies,we've had them for years and what a difference the equipment makes.I can't believe that a number one country like the US has such a blatant disregard for the health and welfare of its caregivers.

(OK vent over---now going to lie down in darkened room:trout:)

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

And to add my .02 worth, I would never dream of attempting any kind of maneuver alone that might injure my back. I understand if someone's falling and you don't have a choice you've got to get in there, but otherwise, a pt can hang in while you recruit someone to lift them up in a bed or bs commode or whatever. I'm sorry, there isn't enough money -- or disability income -- in the world to make me do something that could be debilitating for life.

I agree that's it's in the legs and technique. Make sure you have reviewed those and try to make them second nature in all your daily activities.

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Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.

ANSWER (to the actual question).

The best exercise for major lifting muscles is the deadlift.

Search for that on google, or start with wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadlift

That's the best one, regardless of the politics of who should be lifting what. :lol2:

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

my recommendation is to practice good body mechanics and develop a good relationship with a chiropractor who can refer you to someone who is trained to help you develop strength in the muscles of your back as well as keep your back properly aligned in the years to come. i was always careful over the years in lifting and moving patients and never had a back injury. i still developed a ruptured disk and needed surgery to repair it. there is more and more evidence being compiled to indicate that microfractures occur in the vertebrae of our backs even when we lift correctly. these microfractures are painless and do not come with any symptoms. over time they accumulate and lie asymptomatic until one day, as in one straw too many on the camel's back, our backs just begin to break down. there are a number of states that have attempted to put zero-lift laws into effect. washington and texas have been the first two to successfully do it (i've given you links to the laws below). a proposal was before the u.s. house of representatives last fall, but i do not know where it has gone as it was in several committees. these bills all have the backing of the ana (american nurses' association). i did a paper on this subject last fall for a class and the statistics on nurses having to leave the profession or lose days of work because of back injuries is staggering and known to legislators and health insurance companies. in the years to come, you are most likely going to find that most nurses are going to be discouraged to attempt to lift patients alone and that there will be more effective assistive lifting devices available. legislators who are concerned about the nursing shortage are trying to get osha to make lifting laws part of the federal safety laws so that all healthcare facilities comply and not just individual states who have progressively addressed the problem. the proposed federal law had the teeth in it to mandate the required purchase as well as provide funding for the purchase of assistive lifting devices as well as put them to use for nursing and other healthcare personnel employed in healthcare facilities in the u.s.

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We learned in school that there is no such thing as a safe lift, and that teaching "safer" lifting procedures doesn't result in fewer injuries. According to my ethical/legal book (Zerwekh & Claborn): 50% of nurses complain of chronic back pain, and 40% need to take leave from work at some point in their careers due to severe back injury. I haven't worked in a hospital yet so I don't know what it's like in real life, but we're taught to use assistive devices and never lift alone.

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