It’s sometimes forgotten that many injuries occur at work, especially back and neck injuries. It doesn’t matter if you work in an environment that puts stress on the body regularly or not, there is still the capacity for pain. One particular job we see this happening with recently is in Nurses. Over the course of the pandemic, they were made to do much more work than usual because of the uptick in the amount of people were ill. What this could mean is a lack of rest, more strain on the body per nurse, and more exposure to the sick. Under these conditions, there’s no wonder that our nurses are developing injury and sickness, even under precaution.
According to a study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, nurses ranked highest among other occupations such as agriculture, construction, and manufacturing in terms of illness and injury. We need to care for those that work in healthcare, because they all care for the rest of us during our time of need. So, here are a few ways workplaces can lessen this burden on nurses, and other workers alike.
1.) Ensure the equipment for effective, safe manual handling is available. This will relieve the employee of unnecessary makeshift work.
2.) Employ a “no lift” written policy to cut down on musculoskeletal sprains and strains in the lower back. If it’s too heavy, use equipment or get help.
3.) Adequate staffing to account for the increase in patient flow.
Our nurses have been a blessing throughout the course of COVID, being gracious and vigilant in their hard work. And afterwards, some of these nurses are in pain, so we should recompense them, and show the utmost appreciation for their sacrifice. If you were hurt on the job in any occupation, call on Wirth Chiropractic. You shouldn’t be in pain, and even not be able to work because of simply fullfilling your duties. We’ll work just as vigilantly as you will, to get you back to feeling yourself.
