The physical workload of nursing personnel: association with musculoskeletal discomfort.

Direct care-nursing personnel around the world report high numbers of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This cross-sectional study examined the association between the performance of high-risk patient-handling tasks and self-reported musculoskeletal discomfort in 113 nursing staff members in a veterans' hospital within the United States. Sixty-two percent of subjects reported a 7-day prevalence of moderately severe musculoskeletal discomfort. There was a significant association between wrist and knee pain and the number of highest-risk patient-handling tasks performed per hour interacting with the load lifted. On units where lifting devices are readily available, musculoskeletal risk may have shifted to the wrist and knee.