Examine the effects of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in nurses

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Musculoskeletal disorders are pains in the human musculoskeletal system which includes muscles, joints nerves, and tendons. These injuries arise as a result of sudden exertion like lifting something heavy, making the same movement recurrently and repeated exposure to absolute pressure. The disorders alter the normal functioning of individuals who may pose a lot of danger in the healthcare profession for both the medical practitioners and the patients. In the field of nursing, common musculoskeletal disorders include low back pains which are caused by sitting for long periods, pushing loads and poor posture. Neck and hands pains which arise as a result of constant handling of patients and varicose veins which are caused by prolonged standing and awkward positions while attending to a large number of patients.

These disorders affect individuals both physically and psychologically whereby, a person experiences a lot of pain and is unable to do the task he used to perform. Nurses with the musculoskeletal disorders experience joint stiffness, swellings, numbness and dehydrating for the most of the day. The disease creates a feeling of tiredness during the work shift which changes the effect a nurse used to have on the patient. They are forced to work with the aim of completing early and having a good rest which makes them commit a lot of errors due to speed and lack of concentration. The disorder goes further to interfere with the sleeping patens of an individual. Nurses report to work full of fatigue caused by lack of enough sleep which affects their performance levels. Most nurses with the disorder are forced to retire early because of the inability of their bodies to handle the health care system pressure.

The health care disorder in nurses is treated by avoiding the activities that caused the problem in the first place. The nurse needs to change sitting postures, the practice setting to allow free movement or restrict motions which contributed to its occurrence. Surgeries and medication administration are applied to treat the worse disorder situation by use of anti-inflammatory drugs. If the causes of musculoskeletal disorders are sensed in the nursing environment, it is better to take preventive measures early enough which include redesigning the system structure, changing the job equipment to human-friendly and making a shift in working hours.