Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders In Australian Hospitals: Causes, Symptoms, And Preventive Measures

Work-related Neck and Upper Limbs Disorders

Discuss about the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management.

Hospital workers in Australia are under high pressure to perform their work competently with less income and management skills. Physical discomforts can worsen this demanding condition in the workplace (Maakip et al., 2017).  Due to this, the healthcare staffs fall at high probable danger of physical strain which may result to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).  These are serious issues among nurses and some of the factors which cause these problems include, transferring, lifting and reposition of patients. Due to new technologies in the health care and also the economic stresses, there is a great need to check and identify measures to prevent these issues. The article will address the literature on work-related musculoskeletal disorders in hospital in Australia.

Coenen,  et al. (2017) asserted that manual handling in health centres means moving and supporting any load by an individual by using arms or any form of body effort nurse. Doctor usually uses their efforts in pushing, lifting, moving and also supporting patients in a hospital and it causes lots of risks. Injuries can occur due to lack of skill to handle the patient, working conditions, overexertion and the physical situation of the patient.

According to Cruz & Dias-Teixeira (2016), awkward positions in hospitals are common issues which patient and also the clinician face in health centres. Squirting and kneeling are ordinary activities which are experienced with the hospital premises. Many clinicians work in awkward positions which can result in static loading of soft tissues. The issues may lead to building up of metabolites which accelerate degeneration and eventually lead to disc herniation as indicated by Awang et al. (2016). When the joints are closer to the end of the range of motion, there is greater stress which is inserted into soft tissue of particular the joint parts for instance nerves, muscles and tendons. Chin et al. (2014) indicated that at times when the prolonged sitting is not a key factor which caused the back pain, the combined exposure to continue sitting in awkward positions has the high probability of increasing the risks. However, the prolonged sitting by medical staffs during their work period forms an aggregating for many subjects with LBP. Also, the flexion of the spinal can negatively affect the proprioception, and it is likely to be linked with the LBP.

 There exists lots of literature which concentrates on the LBP but there few literatures which address the issues of occupational cervicobrachial, shoulder and arm pain. Vieira et al. 2016 found out that the process if handling patients can cause not only LBP but it also causes shoulder, arm pain because it exerts lots of burden on the neck and arms. The upper limbs disorders are caused by repetitive work, sustained force and also the awkward postures (Karwan et al., 2015). All these happen among health workers when they are doing a lot of tasks and poor working conditions in Australian hospitals.  The common ULDs among the clinicians are carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder capsulitis, thoracic outlet and tendinitis (Karwan, et al., 2015). The tension neck syndrome causes lots of pain in the neck which are associated with the discomforts in muscles, spinal vertebrae and nerves. All these pain can also be felt as numbness or even weakness in the arms. Due to prolonged awkward position by health workers such as placing computer mouse too high and also pending over some tasks for a very long time could likely cause lots of stresses in neck muscles and related nerves.

Measures to Prevent MSDs among Health Workers

According to Sharan et al. 2015, cervical spondylosis is a disorder which causes abnormal wear on bone and also the cartilages of the neck. It is caused to due to the degeneration of the cervical spine which involves the cushioning between the vertebrae of the neck region and also the joints between cervical spine bones.  Most occupational risk factors are the manual handling of patients or even any other loads such as equipment and awkward positions. These issues cause symptoms like pains in the neck region, poor neck fitness and also the lots of sensation in shoulders.

Mishra, et al. (2015) concluded that the shoulders tendonitis affects the shoulders, and they come in two types; bicep tendinitis which results in pain in the front side of the shoulder and may go beyond to the elbow. Some of the pains can result due to the raising of the arms overhead. These particular can be accelerated by pushing, lifting and pulling the arm above the level of the shoulder. The occupation risk factors which caused the tendinitis among Australian health worker are repetitive shoulder and wrist motions, the prolonged loads which are put in the shoulder and also the sustained hypertension of arms.

On the other hand, Dsouza, & KU (2016) asserted that the thoracic outlet syndrome involves pain in the shoulder and neck, the tingling and also numbness of fingers. It results due to the inability of the blood vessels which pass via collarbone and upper ribs to get enough space.  High pressure comprises these blood vessels, and it led to symptoms in hands.  Cases of workers suffering from the issue in Australian health centers have risen, and there is need to check and offer a remedy to the problem. Most instances indicate that they work for long hours and they work while using awkward positions such as shoulder flexion and raising their hands above their shoulder.

Frozen shoulder is another condition which affects health care workers in Australian government. As in indicated by Mishra, et al. (2015 ligaments usually are found in the capsule of shoulder and due to some factors, the bones if shoulder cannot move freely causing the shoulder to froze. Manual handling of goods as well as working in awkward positions causes workers to suffer from the condition. Frozen shoulder condition commences when acute pain deters an individual from freely moving hand, and it can make them unable to do undertakings like reaching behind or over the head.

According to Stolt et al. (2016), the gravity and swelling can cause painless swelling in legs can be seen in lower part of the body. Due to prolonged standing and sitting in a laboratory for long hours by health care workers in Australia, such issues tend to arise. However, prolonged standing, particularly in awkward positions and long working hours, aggravate varicose veins among the clinicians due to working in such positions; blood will remain in the vein which leads to swollen and painful veins which are filled with lots of abnormal blood. When blood is pooling, the veins will get enlarged.

Due to increased risks which MSDs causes in hospital workers, there is need to keep them from avoiding causing lots of problems. The Australian health department should consider improving their working organisations so that employees will not strain especially in handling laboratory experiments (Mishra, et al., 2015). They should make tables which are scientifically accepted for laboratory processes.  They should also train their personnel on the best ways or positions to work from to avoid lots of stress on tissue muscles. Standing for long hours also should be avoided, and seats in operating offices should be provided to counter the issue.  The long working hours by medical staff also should be reduced to the standard levels, for instance, eight hours per day to avoid stress which workers go through.

All employees should be allowed to use coveralls. The choice of this particular cloth also should be considerable important. Tight coveralls cause friction in skins leading to stress on muscles. The health centers also should ensure that they choose good mechanical equipment which will assist workers to handle heavy goods at ease (Dsouza, & KU 2016). However, it is upon each and every employee within the health care centers to choose proper positions and also the right types of equipment which fit them. They should also reduce the number of efforts used through sliding rather than lifting goods.

Conclusions

MSDs in hospitals lead in causes of disorders among worker. Due to lots of poor handling of goods and even patients, poor or awkward working conditions bring lots of stress to workers. Lower limb disorders and upper limb disorders affect staffs, and they affect their working conditions making them incapable of working efficiently. Cases such as thoracic outlet syndrome involve pain in the shoulder and neck, the tingling and also numbness of fingers. It results due to the inability of the blood vessels which pass via collarbone and upper ribs to get enough space.   However, their issues need to prevent such issues to help worker improve their working efficiency. By training staff on proper working postures and positions will help them avoid pains and related disorders. There should not be the use of tight coveralls because they cause friction in skins leading to stress on muscles. The health centers also should ensure that they choose proper mechanical equipment which will assist workers to handle heavy goods comfortably.

References

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