How do you protect your back health?

sunnycalifRN · Dec 20, 2009

You bring up a very important issue in nursing. Back injuries are very common in nursing and are a cause of many, many days of medical absence ( I don't have the statistics but they are very high). In nursing school they teach the "proper body mechanics", lift with your legs, etc, etc. This is very old school . . . the proper way to do lifting is NO LIFTING!! There a few hospitals around the country that have implemented this NO MANUAL LIFT policy.

The way it is implemented is with an assortment of ceiling lifts, hovermats, sliding sheets and in some cases, specialized "lift teams". The initial cost is high but it is cost effective because of drastic reduction in back injuries and the associated lost work days or disability claims.

With the increase in obesity among our patient population, the only safe way to lift is NOT to lift.

Blackheartednurse · Dec 20, 2009

Just making sure I dont reach for things,no twisting,pushing instead of pulling...swimming,dressing warm on a day of the cold wheather,watching what I eat,wear seat bells,avoid extreme sports that can cause back injury.

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Dec 20, 2009

One thing I have done since having had a patient who I was assisting another to transfer from bed to wheelchair (he, the patient, did not use any iota of muscle and was buff, heavy weight!) is to tell the patient that "he/she is doing most of the lift, I'm just there for a safety to prevent them from falling." That has saved me from back injury. Nothing worse than having the bones in your back compressed.

Male nurses should be paid extra for assisting with transfers most of the time. Only kidding!

I have to be very careful not to over do it with Yoga, my muscles can get distorted very easily to the point it can weaken the integrity of my alignment rather than help it.

dannyc12 · Dec 21, 2009

Hi everyone,
I am a nursing student who just landed a job as a CNA and am worried about keeping my back healthy with all the lifting, turning, etc. What measures do you take to keep your back healthy? Besides adherence to form, does any do exercise, yoga, or sleep certain ways to make sure they are able to keep working?
Thanks!

By all means everything you can to strengthen your back. Walking really helped me, especially for my lower back. Yoga, weight lifting, and a variety of other strengthening exercises will help too. There is no quick fix, you just have to do the work.

No amount of wellness activity will save you if you don't use safe patient handling techniques.

Watch out for the small ones - they are the ones that get you!

Kabin · Dec 21, 2009

Do core strength exercises that strengthen major and minor muscle groups.

robinbird · Dec 21, 2009

I also do core strength exercises, push ups and I run.

The things that I do to save my back:

-- Use good body mechanics when pulling a patient up in bed. I step to the side as I'm pulling the patient up.

--Using slides to transfer a patient from stretcher to bed whenever possible.

--Have lots of help, preferably 2 people on each side and one at the head and feet if possible.

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2009

Work in NICU.

FowLaf24/7 · Dec 21, 2009

One should focus on staying in shape with exercise. Try to choose an exercise program that focuses on the total body. One should also pay attention to form. One of the most important areas is to ask for assistance. It just is not worth it in the end to do it by yourself.

dannyc12 · Dec 21, 2009

Work in NICU.

lol...good idea!

Good luck getting in there as a brand new CNA with no experience!

Katie5 · Dec 21, 2009

Good advice, everyone of them Don't forget to raise the bed to waist level.Why bend, if you can aviod it?

BanoraWhite · Dec 21, 2009

....In nursing school they teach the "proper body mechanics", lift with your legs, etc, etc. This is very old school . . . the proper way to do lifting is NO LIFTING!! There a few hospitals around the country that have implemented this NO MANUAL LIFT policy....
With the increase in obesity among our patient population, the only safe way to lift is NOT to lift.

Although I feel like this is an excellent point, I have found some instances where a slight manual lift was necessary...for instance working in a small nursing home where there was not a lot of variety of machines to use ( only standing and lifting machine) and it was not safe to lift a women by either.

You may come across times like these where you have to do a bit of manual lift....I find sometimes even using the sliding sheets can be hard on your back, also bending down to pick up things off the floor, hook straps on machines etc..

Planning your lift so you don't make more movements than necessary, make sure you don't twist your back, bend down correctly ( dont just hunch over ) and always make sure you get help when you need it !!

Even though I mentioned earlier that sometimes a small manual lift may be required...if you don't feel comfortable, you have every right to say NO !