Assessment of an ergonomic intervention in a nursing home: preliminary results

Introduction. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the ageing of nursing staff make preventive interventions in healthcare workers (HCWs) indispensable. This study aims to evaluate an occupational ergonomic intervention in a nursing home in Northern Italy. Material and Methods. The preventive intervention consisted of the introduction of 25 ergonomic beds with lateral tilting. 32 enrolled healthcare assistant (90% female; 15,6 %> 55 years age) were assigned to manual handling patient tasks, before and after introduction of the ergonomic beds. Both during the pre-intervention and post-intervention phase, organizational and health surveillance data were acquired. An ad hoc structured questionnaire and other validated tools, e.g. Work Ability Index (WAI), were administered through focus groups to assess the well-being perceived by the HCWs. Statistical elaborations included an evaluation of the variation of the endpoints between before and after the intervention. Results. Overall, ergonomic beds have achieved better results in terms of safety, comfort, reliability. Physical effort perceived was reduced in 97% of HCWs. In addition, the analysis of the questionnaires showed a positive impact also in terms of absenteeism reduction (from 16.6% to 2.5% of total working days). On the other hand, the WAI showed a discordant trend compared to the other scales administered, probably due to the stressful working conditions which health workers faced while managing the patients with COVID-19 infection. Conclusions. Preliminary results confirm the effectiveness of the ergonomic intervention.