Occupational safety and health programs have fostered research to identify injury risk factors and safety interventions to prevent injuries during patient handling. Evidence-based research has shown that safe patient handling interventions can significantly reduce overexertion injuries by replacing manual patient handling with safer methods guided by the principles of “Ergonomics.” Ergonomics refers to the design of work tasks to best suit the capabilities of workers. The single greatest risk factor for overexertion injuries in healthcare workers is the manual lifting, moving, and repositioning of patients, residents, or clients, i.e., manual patient handling. BLS data collected in 2020 compared 10 medical occupations and found nursing assistants, registered nurses and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had notable increases in the number of days away from work. Musculoskeletal disorders made up 52% of all days away from work cases for nursing assistants. Nursing assistants experienced the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders of all occupations in 2020, with 15,360 cases. The total incidence rate for this sector was 5.5 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers in 2020, compared to 3.8 per 100 full-time equivalent workers in 2019. Over half of these cases (447,890) resulted in at least one day away from work. HCSA had 806,200 private industry injury and illness cases in 2020 (2020 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, BLS). In 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a 40% increase in injury and illness cases. The Healthcare and Social Assistance sector (HCSA) has one of the highest rates of work-related injuries and illnesses and it continues to rise.
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