Premium
Impact of California's safe patient handling legislation on musculoskeletal injury prevention among nurses
Author(s) -
Lee SooJeong,
Lee Joung Hee,
Harrison Robert
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22923
Subject(s) - medicine , legislation , occupational safety and health , cross sectional study , receipt , musculoskeletal injury , injury prevention , physical therapy , family medicine , environmental health , poison control , medical emergency , emergency medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , world wide web , political science , computer science , law
Background This study evaluated the impact of California's safe patient handling (SPH) legislation on musculoskeletal injury prevention among hospital nurses. Methods Two serial cross‐sectional surveys were conducted using postal and online questionnaires in statewide random samples of California registered nurses in 2013 and 2016. Analysis included hospital nurses who performed patient handling ( n = 254 and n = 281, respectively). Results In 2016, there were significant improvements in nurses’ knowledge of a SPH policy in their hospital (87%), receipt of annual SPH training (73%), and availability of lift equipment (80%); 33% perceived their hospital's SPH programs as excellent or very good. Significant prevalence reduction was observed for work‐related musculoskeletal symptoms (61% vs 52%; Adjusted Prevalence Ratio = 0.78, 95% CI 0.66‐0.91). Conclusions Our findings indicate the significant role of SPH legislation with positive impacts on SPH policies and programs at the hospital level and on musculoskeletal health outcomes at the worker level.