Non-violence-related workplace injuries among emergency nurses in the United States: implications for improving safe practice, safe care.

Introduction: Health care workers are more likely than most other occupations to experience work-related injuries, and emergency nurses frequently encounter job-related hazards in their daily routine. Risk factors for non-violence-related workplace injuries among nurses include heavy workloads, aging of the nursing workforce, workplace environmental factors, obesity, and non-standard work schedules. These factors impact nurses' decisions regarding whether or not to return to their job or to stay in their field of practice, thereby exacerbating workforce shortages and hindering recruitment and retention efforts.

AORN Ergonomic Tool 4: Solutions for Prolonged Standing in Perioperative Settings.

Prolonged standing during surgical procedures poses a high risk of causing musculoskeletal disorders, including back, leg, and foot pain, which can be chronic or acute in nature. Ergonomic Tool 4: Solutions for Prolonged Standing in Perioperative Settings provides recommendations for relieving the strain of prolonged standing, including the use of antifatigue mats, supportive footwear, and sit/stand stools, that are based on well-accepted ergonomic safety concepts, current research, and access to new and emerging technology.

Climate change and human health: the role of nurses in confronting the issue.

Climate change will impact human health in various ways as the ecology of our planet changes. Environmental changes such as increased heat waves, sea-level rise, and increased drought around the globe will aggravate already-existing health problems, increase the onset of new health problems, and, in some cases, cause premature death. Catastrophic events associated with these environmental changes, such as floods, and increases in hospital and routine clinic visits will have nurses on the front lines tending to those in need.

Preventing musculoskeletal disorders in nurses: a safe patient handling curriculum module for nursing schools.

Nursing educators who teach outmoded manual patient handling techniques contribute to the widespread problem of musculoskeletal disorders in student and practicing nurses. The authors discuss the development and implementation of a new safe patient handling curriculum module, which was pilot tested in 26 nursing programs. The module changes the focus of patient handling education from body mechanics to equipment-assisted safe patient lifting programs that have been shown to protect nurses from injury and improve care.