Barriers and Facilitators in Implementing a Moving and Handling People Programme-An Exploratory Study

摘要

Health care workers, including nurses, have one of the highest musculoskeletal injury incidence rates of any profession, especially work-related back injuries. The majority of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in health care are caused by moving and handling of people (MHP). In order to reduce MSDs due to MHP, some national health care sector authorities worldwide have developed intervention programmes or guidelines that can be used by their health care organisations. However, very few of the national interventions have been evaluated for their efficacy or impact. In those that have, the effort to reduce the incidence of MSDs caused by MHP has been largely unsuccessful, often because of barriers. This study aimed to identify what barriers, and facilitators, existed in health care organisations in relation to implementation of the New Zealand MHP guidelines. It was found that implementing a MHP programme especially requires sufficient resources for training and strong support based on evidence, or legislation. Management support for equipment purchase or maintenance is also essential, as is sufficient training for changing the culture of the workplace. It is also important to assess staff MHP knowledge and practices. MHP programmes need to be designed to be suitable for different sectors such as age care, and different users such as a foreign work force.