Back Pain and Methods of Coping with back Pain in Nurses

This research was conducted as a descriptive study to determine the amount of back pain experienced by nurses and their methods of coping with it. The research population was all the nurses who were working at the Göztepe Training and Research Hospital at Istanbul Medeniyet University, the Dr. Siyami Ersek Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital. The research sample consisted of 356 nurses who volunteered to participate. The data for the study were collected using a questionnaire prepared by the researcher based on a literature review. In the statistical evaluation of the data, percentage calculations and Chi-square tests were used. The average age of participants in the study was 28.7, the youngest was 19 and the oldest was 47. 89.6% of the participants were female, 57.0% were single, 60.7% were undergraduates and 49.2% had a normal body index. 25.3% were working in the intensive care unit and 51.3% were working at the service. 46.6% of them worked for 41–48 hours a week and 55.6% of them were standing up for 5–8 hours within a 24 hour period. There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between participants‟ experience of back pain and their age groups, the unit where they worked, task status, the amount of time spent standing, and the amount of time standing in the same position. Based on the results obtained, it is thought that experiencing back pain is a risk for nurses because of their lengthy hours of work and time spent standing, that exercises to strengthen the back muscles may be beneficial and that proper body mechanics should be included in in-service training.Bu araştırma, hemşirelerde bel ağrısı ve bel ağrısıyla baş etme yöntemlerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla tanımlayıcı olarak yapıldı. Araştırmanın evrenini, İstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi Göztepe Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Dr. Siyami Ersek Göğüs Kalp ve Damar Cerrahisi Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesinde çalışan tüm hemşireler, örneklemi ise gönüllü olan 356 hemşire oluşturdu. Çalışmanın verileri, araştırmacı tarafından literatür taraması sonucu hazırlanan soru formu kullanılarak toplandı. Verilerin istatistiksel değerlendirilmesinde yüzdelik hesaplaması, ki-kare testleri kullanıldı. Çalışmada yaş ortalaması 28.7 olup, en küçük yaş 19 en büyük yaş 47'dir. Katılımcıların %89,6'sı kadın, %57,0'ı bekar, %60,7'si lisans mezunu, %49,2'sinin normal beden indeksinde olduğu, %25,3'ünün yoğun bakım, %51,3'ünün serviste çalıştığı, %46,6'sının haftada 41 ve 48 saat arası çalıştığı, %55,6'sının 24 saat içerisinde 5-8 saat arası ayakta kaldığı belirlendi. Katılımcıların yaş grupları, çalıştığı birim, görev durumu, ayakta durma süresi, aynı pozisyonda durma süresi ile bel ağrısı arasında istatistiksel anlamlılık (p