Authors (including presenting author) :
CHAN KAMS, CHOW FK, CHEUNG YC, LEUNG SL, TING KH, YU TKK
Affiliation :
Department of Rehabilitation
Introduction :
Healthcare workers in rehabilitation ward are susceptible to musculoskeletal injuries due to frequent manual handling operations (MHO). Due to the aging population and the repetitive heavy lifting, the demand for the healthcare workers for manual handling was increasing. It would be especially vulnerable to those who had chronic musculoskeletal pain. There was an increased rate of injury-on-duty (IOD) in a rehabilitation ward from 2019 to 2020 which led to decreased manpower. Therefore, a joint programme was conducted with the Department of Physiotherapy to provide a series of ward-based practical educational training on MHO to nurses and patient care assistants (PCAs) in order to reduce manual handling related injuries. It included tailor-made MHO training videos which were produced by both physiotherapists and ward, small class MHO educational training and practical workshops provide postural hands-on guidance. Upon the completion of the programme, some staffs were interviewed for their perception on its effectiveness. Staff perception on the effectiveness of the programme is paramount as it contributes to the compliance rate and the sustainability of proper postures during manual handling.
Objectives :
The study aims to understand the perception of staff on ward-based manual handling training in KH rehabilitation ward.
Methodology :
The study was conducted in the form of interview with open-ended questions. Nurses and PCAs of different seniority were included. They were asked to express their perceived effectiveness of the programme “how do they find it useful/ useless”, “their perceived cooperation with colleagues during manual handling”, “their obstacles of applying the taught techniques”.
Result & Outcome :
There were 56 participants in this training programme (35 nurses and 21 PCAs). Thirty percent of participants were interviewed. Majority of nurses and PCAs found the training programme useful. They reflected that it could refresh their knowledge on proper manual handling techniques. It could enhance their awareness to perform risk assessment e.g. to assess the availability of sufficient space and the need of extra manpower before performing MHO. Senior nurses were more prone to remind their partner for proper techniques during manual handling. Some nurses reviewed that they could not perform the taught skills of shifting/ transfer of patient due to space constraint. One junior nurse and a senior PCA commented that the techniques taught for shifting up the patient in bed was not useful as they could not perform all the steps when they were too rush. One PCA expressed that she had experienced low back pain after manual handling prior to training. However, she had not experienced low back pain during manual handling after she applied the skills. The interview explored that limited space hindered MHO to a certain extent. It is important for frontline supervisors to ensure safe working environment for MHO. Besides, staff education on the importance to maintain neat and tidy environment is also necessary. The interview showed that most of the staff found the training programme effective. The ward-based training programme provides convenient learning opportunity to all the ward staffs. It engages them in a familiar environment during the learning process. Periodical ward-based training is recommended as to reinforce staff of the proper manual handling techniques and to change their behaviour ultimately.
