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Patient Handling Ergonomics, Paul Reichert

Theses

The incidence of musculoskeletal injuries among healthcare workers has been well documented in the medical and ergonomic literature. The epidemiological evidence demonstrates high injury rate among nurses, nurse's aides, therapists and other medical workers who frequently handle patients. The biomechanical research has shown large compressive forces developed in the lumbar spine performing various patient handling transfers that exceed the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's recommended guideline. One of the most strenuous patient handling tasks is transferring the patient from bed to the chair and vice versa.

One of the objectives of this thesis is to design and conduct …