Top 6 Most Common Injuries In The Nursing Profession
In the nursing profession, there are many dangers that surround us every day and make us prone to injury. If you have been a nurse for even a short time maybe you have been injured at work and most certainly know a coworker who has been injured. Through training, patient lift devices, and lift teams injury has always been a part of the nursing profession. In this three-part series, I will explain the top 6 most common injuries in the nursing profession, how to avoid them, and what to do when you are injured to avoid reinjury. Check out the video below as I explain more.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDIqE_JPDg4]
I hope this video helped show you the some of the most common injuries related to the nursing profession. Some jobs have hidden unexpected dangers, but in the nursing profession, we walk into our jobs every day knowing there are risks and have to be aware of those risks to remain safe and free from a career ending injuries. Here are the 6 Most Common Injuries In The Nursing Profession again.
- Musculoskeletal – Wrist, back, and ankle sprains/strains
- According to OSHA healthcare workers are 7 times as likely to develop musculoskeletal disorders
- Occur from violent patients hitting, grabbing, or punching nurses
- Needle sticks and sharps
- Despite safety devices on needles, needle sticks, especially in procedural areas, are still common
- Hazardous Drug exposure
- Chemotherapy
- Various hazardous medications
- Hazardous Chemicals
- Exposure to chemicals in the workplace like cleaning products, phosphates, chlorine, and formaldehyde, etc.
- Radiation
- X-rays and fluoroscopy
- Nurses that have daily exposure should be trained in radiation safety, but not all are.
- Risk is long term exposure that can’t be smelled or seen
- Infectious Disease
- Needlesticks
- Patient contact
- Airborne
- We’ve all taken care of that patient for the weekend only to come back the next day and they are in isolation!
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If the patient still has most of the mobility in their joint and can comfortably put weight on it, then you can support the injury by wrapping it with athletic tape or an ace bandage.