Notably for activities during basic care, nursing staff often have to lean forward, for example to be able to wash patients’ legs or feet. High weights are often moved and the body reacts to unfavorable working angles in the medium and long term with symptoms and injuries – a consequence of excessive and one-sided loads during lifting and repositioning.
In the series „Ergonomic work in nursing professions“ we are concerned with optimization of important work steps also with the help of tools.
In this way, the burden on the nursing staff can at least be reduced and made more compatible. For example, the rearrangement of a resident with 2 nurses with the help of a sliding mat:
Placement of the sliding mat
• The resident is turned in the direction of one of the two nursing staffs
• A sliding mat is folded twice and placed against the resident’s back
• The resident is turned to the other side and the mat is pulled out on the other side
Repositioning the resident
• The resident is moved by shifting his or her weight in the desired direction
Here are all the steps in a video:
