Effects of ergonomic stretcher and improvement in layout of hospital rooms in Ayatollah Alimoradian hospital of Nahavand for reduction of Musculoskeletal disorders among health care workers

Due to the large numbers of staff employed in health care services, the hospital should be seen as a big industry, with many workers mostly females. This fact along with the lack of sufficient manpower, and also frequent handling and transport of load (patient) in hospitals causes an increase of musculoskeletal disorders among personnel, so that most of the hospital personnel in the first few years, of employment suffer from Musculoskeletal disorders.
The study was designed and implemented in four parts of the Nahavand Alimoradiyan hospital with aim of reducing musculoskeletal disorders resulting from handling and transport of patients. Data was collected using Nordic questionnaire and data analysis was performed by SPSS (ver. 16). The Questionnaires were completed for 46 personnel of the four parts of the hospital who complained a lot about musculoskeletal disorders, before and after the use of ergonomic stretcher designed and also the improvement of several rooms.
The main results of the initial investigations before the intervention, was a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among personnel, especially disorders of lower back, shoulder and ankle, in which low back pain by %69.6 had the highest prevalence among personnel. The results of intervention by an ergonomic stretcher and improvement in layout of the hospital rooms significantly reduced the frequency and intensity of disorders.
This study showed that the use of ergonomic equipment and proper layout of the rooms especially when the hospitals are designed, with proper training can significantly reduce musculoskeletal disorders resulting from patient handling.