Low back pain and methods of coping with low back pain in nurses.

Objectives: This research was conducted to determine low back pain in nurses and their methods of coping with low back pain.

Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed with 356 nurses in three university hospitals in the province of Istanbul in April-August 2016. Percentage calculations and Chi-square tests were used in statistical analyses.

Results: The mean age of the nurses in the study was 28.70±5.92, 25.3% were working in intensive care, 46.6% worked 41-48 h a week, and 55.6% stood for 5-8 h within a 24 h period. Low back pain was moderate in 75.8% of participants, and low back pains sometimes affected work efficiency in 43.3% (n=154). In terms of coping, the great majority of participants did not visit a physician, but used analgesics, avoided wearing high-heeled shoes, and slept in hard beds. Statistical significance (p<0.05) was observed between participants' age groups, the unit where they worked, type of duty, the amount of time spent standing, and the amount of time standing in the same position and low back pain.

Conclusion: Based on the results obtained, nurses experienced a moderate level of low back pain, and we think that experiencing low back pain is a continuous risk for nurses because of their lengthy hours of work and time spent standing, and that their working hours should, therefore, be adjusted and that correct body mechanics should be included during in-service training.