Nurses 'injured' caring for obese
Updated on 02 April 2007
A rise in the number of obese patients on wards could be causing thousands of NHS nurses to seek treatment for back pain, according to experts.
Around 5,000 nurses are currently being treated for back pain following a surge in patients' weights and the number of patients a nurse has to care for, according to the British Chiropractic Association.
Dr Matthew Bennett, a member of the BCA who has been a chiropractor for 20 years, said: "We probably see one or two nurses a week which are new clients but there are dozens on each practice list.
"There are thousands of nurses with work-related back pain and I think this could increase in the future.
"A lot do not turn up in official statistics because it affects employment status.
"The weight of patients is a contributory factor to back pain. It's not just a weight issue - it's a fitness issue with people unable to turn themselves over easily."
Unions also say workloads and rise in patients' weight are impacting heavily on the health of NHS staff.
Barrie Brown, Amicus' Lead Officer for Nursing, said: "We are aware of this as an extensive problem because muscular skeletal problems are the biggest reason for people retiring on grounds of ill health from the NHS."
Nicola Lee, Work Injured and Disabled Nurses Advisor at the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Back pain in nurses is still a big issue, despite advances in manual handling and Health and Safety legislation.
"There are a number of factors involved - the ageing nursing workforce, increasing workloads/short staffing, violence against staff and H&S failures - to name but a few. The size and weight of patients could also be one of the contributing factors but there are no precise statistics linking a rise in weight of a patient to an increase in back pain for nurses."
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