Use of the Omaha System to identify musculoskeletal problems in intensive care unit nurses: a case study.

BACKGROUND:: there is a need for a standard terminology to identify and manage occupational risks in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. AIM:: this study was conducted to investigate the occupational musculoskeletal symptom-related problems of one ICU nurse using the Omaha system. METHOD:: a case study method was employed. An Evaluation of Knowledge form and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment tools were used to identify musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risks. Three components of the Omaha System were used: Problem Classification Scheme, Intervention Scheme and Problem Rating Scale for Outcomes. RESULTS:: eight signs/symptoms related to four problems were identified from three domains: environmental (neighbourhood/workplace safety), physiological (pain and neuro-musculoskeletal function), and health-related behaviours (physical activity and healthcare supervision). Interventions were mapped to Omaha System terms, and nursing outcomes were evaluated. CONCLUSION:: this study presented an example of using the Omaha System in occupational health nursing practice. The Omaha System can be used effectively to identify musculoskeletal problems and related factors of ICU nurses in a standardised and computerised concept. Use of this system could aid prevention of occupational musculoskeletal problems in ICU nurses.

Skin disease symptoms and related risk factors among young workers in high-risk jobs.

BACKGROUND: Occupational skin diseases are the one of the most frequent diseases in many industrialized countries. The studies about skin disease (SD) on young workers were limited. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aim to evaluate the prevalence of SD symptoms and related risk factors among young workers in high-risk occupations. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was undertaken between 2011 and 2012 in two vocational training centres. We included 455 young workers who were working as hairdressers, jewellers, or car mechanics. Data were collected with the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire, which was adapted to Turkish for young workers. RESULTS: The average age of the young workers was 17.9 ± 1.7 years. Of the 455 young workers, 52.7% were female and 47.3% were male. During the previous 12 months, the prevalences of the total SD symptoms, hand/forearm eczema symptoms and urticaria symptoms were 49.7%, 44.4%, and 13.4%, respectively. Those who worked as car mechanics were 5.8 times more likely [odds ratio (OR) 5.81, 95%CI: 2.58-13.10) to have a dry skin type, 2.9 times more likely (OR 2.86, 95%CI: 1.72-4.75) to work for >12 h daily, 2.6 times more likely (OR 2.59, 95%CI: 1.25-5.35) to have worked for >5 years, and 3.0 times more likely (OR 3.05, 95%CI: 1.14-8.14) to have SD symptoms. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that young workers in high-risk jobs have a high frequency of skin symptoms. These results could provide a basis for occupational health professionals to plan prevention programmes for young workers.

Using the Omaha System to describe health problems, interventions, and outcomes in home care in Istanbul, Turkey: a student informatics research experience.

Preparing nursing students to achieve informatics competencies is essential in today's information-intensive healthcare delivery systems. This study aimed to provide hands-on informatics experience to nursing students and to identify the frequency and type of home care clients' health problems, nursing interventions, and outcomes using a standardized nursing terminology, the Omaha System. Data were collected by 159 nursing students on home visits to 598 clients, who received 8657 interventions from students and faculty for 2267 problems, in addition to the services provided by the home care centers. Skin, neuromusculoskelatal function, personal care, nutrition, and urinary function were the most common problems. The most common intervention category was teaching, guidance, and counseling (47%), followed by treatments and procedures (22%), surveillance (22%), and case management (9%). Outcomes evaluation showed significant improvement in 97.5% of the identified problems. Students gained informatics experience in the use of a standardized nursing language in electronic health records, data management, and use of nursing data at the basic practice level. This study demonstrated that the Omaha System was a useful data collection tool for evaluating problems, interventions, and outcomes in home care and a positive teaching and learning tool for baccalaureate nursing education.

Effects of a PRECEDE-PROCEED model based ergonomic risk management programme to reduce musculoskeletal symptoms of ICU nurses.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate effects of a PRECEDE-PROCEED Model based, nurse-delivered Ergonomic Risk Management Program (ERMP) in the aim of reducing musculoskeletal symptoms of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. METHODS: This pre-test post-test design for non-equivalent control groups study comprised 72 ICU nurses from two hospitals. A randomised sampling was done through the study population. The ERMP was delivered as an intervention including 26weeks of follow-up. Data was collected by "Descriptives of Nurses and Ergonomic Risk Reporting Form", "Rapid Upper Risk Assessment Form (RULA)", "ICU Environment Assessment Form" and "Personal interviews form". RESULTS: There was no difference between sociodemographic characteristics, work and general health conditions within intervention and control group. One month after the intervention, nurses had significant decrease in their total RULA scores during bending down and patient repositioning movements as 1.40 and 0.82, respectively. Six months after the ERMP, the mean total RULA scores of nurses during the patient repositioning was 4.39±1.49 which meant "immediate further analyses and modifications recommended". After all, pain intensity scores, medication use due to pain, and RULA ergonomic risk scores were significantly decreased, while exercise frequency was increased. CONCLUSIONS: The ERMP was effective to increase exercise frequency and to decrease musculoskeletal pain and ergonomic risk levels of ICU nurses.