Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess how the act of repositioning a patient up in bed would affect the physical and psychological wellbeing of nurses and patients and identify influencing factors. Repositioning was performed in three approaches, namely (1) without using sliding sheets as assistive devices, (2) sliding sheets inserted and removed from the head side of the bed, and (3) sliding sheets inserted and removed from the lateral side. Physical and psychological burdens were assessed before, at the time of, and after sliding the patient. Subjects were ten nurses (average age 29.9±2.0) and another person acting as a patient (BMI 18.70). Measurements were made of the muscle activity of the nurse's erector spinae and the forward inclination angle of her torso as well as the muscle activity of the patient's sternocleidomastoid and the back bending angle of her neck. Subjective assessments were also made. Results revealed the use of assistive devices was effective in that it attracted a high overall rating from the subjects in their subjective assessment. It was also shown that the assistive devices could increase the physical burden depending on how they were used. The study suggested that the factors influencing the physical and psychological effects of repositioning were associated with the method of inserting and removing the assistive devices, the manner in which the patient's body was supported and how the nurse made use of her body parts in performing the task.
