Assisting hospital staff with treating and preventing back pain

Despite recent reports that occupational injuries requiring days away from work decreased since 2008, hospitals still remain in the top 10 industries for occupational injury, with 6.7 workers per 100 employees reporting an injury in 2009 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2010). The prevalence of musculoskeletal injury in healthcare workers is well documented in the literature, and back pain is considered to be the most common work-related health problem in nurses (June & Cho, 2011). Many nurses seem to accept that back pain “comes with the job.” This view may prevent many nurses and other healthcare workers from seeking possible solutions, including the use of back exercises, to prevent injury or to improve existing back pain.