Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Work Fatigue in Nursing Professionals in Surgical Ward

Abstract

This study assesses the risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) and Labour Fatigue, related with Nursing activity in a surgical ward. For this purpose, a nursing team representative sample was selected and a questionnaire about Labour Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Symptoms (Neto, 2013) was applied, as well as the REBA Assessment Tool (Hignett & MacAtamney, 2000), to assess postures during the Patient Positioning. The results indicate that the Nursing Intervention in study, presents a moderate WMSD risk exposure. However, two subtasks (“Rotating Patients” and “Positioning Patients”) have a very high level of risk exposure. Regarding Labour Fatigue, there is a higher exposure to the risk of physical fatigue than the levels found for mental fatigue. To reduce the professional risks assessed, a set of measures have been proposed, with emphasis on a training plan and a Laboral Gymnastics program implementation.