Frequent bending--an underestimated burden in nursing professions.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to quantify the total duration per shift in which nurses work in a forward bending position over 20°. Furthermore, the influence of several factors on the occurrence of sagittal trunk inclinations in nurses was investigated. METHODS Trunk postures were recorded for nine nursing home nurses from four German nursing homes and 18 hospital nurses from seven hospitals using the CUELA measurement system. A total of 79 shifts, 27 in nursing homes and 52 in hospitals, were analysed. All measurements were supported by video recordings. Specially developed software (WIDAAN 2.75) was used to synchronize the measurement data and video footage. RESULTS The total duration of inclinations per shift was significantly affected by the working area (nursing home or hospital) with an increase of 25.3 min in nursing homes (95% confidence interval 2.4-48.2; P = 0.032). Another factor was the extent of personal basic care tasks performed by the nurses (P < 0.001). Nursing home nurses worked about twice as long per shift in a forward bending position compared with hospital nurses (112 versus 63 min; P < 0.001) and they assumed almost one-third more inclinations per shift (1541 versus 1170; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS Nursing staff perform a large number of inclinations. The amount of time spent by nurses working in a forward bending position was highly dependent on the working area and the extent to which patients were in need of help. It is very likely that future preventive measures, focussing on reducing the huge amount of inclination, would reduce the physical stress in everyday nursing work substantially.