Early detection of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in nurses training in healthcare facilities in Iraq: The case of Hilla Hospital

In this study, workplace health, safety, and welfare are covered under Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), which serves as a foundation for reducing occupational accidents to an acceptable level. OHS is concerned with the health, safety, and welfare of workers in a variety of industries, and nurses are at the center of health services and contribute to the welfare of societies. Workplaces in the health services sector are complex environments that can be dangerous from time to time, and unsafe working conditions can cause a decrease in the workforce in the health services sector. Decent working conditions in this sector must take into account the health and well-being of workers, as the quality of care provided by health care workers depends in part on the quality of their working environment. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are injuries that affect the connective tissues of the body. It is one of the leading causes of occupational injury and disability worldwide. Nurses in Iraq suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders due to awkward situations, heavy lifting, and repetitive movements with patients. The main aim of this study was the early detection of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses working at Hilla General Teaching Hospital in Babylon. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was used to collect information. Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common reasons patients seek medical care. Musculoskeletal diseases are still the main source of disability and lost working time. Understanding the reasons, especially work-related reasons, is still the key to primary prevention. This questionnaire covered nine areas of the body (the neck, shoulder, back, elbow, hand/wrist, lower back, hip/thigh, knee, and foot/ankle). It is a self-reported questionnaire asking if there has been any pain in the past 6 days or year. NMQ was used to collect information from 206 randomly selected nurses from abroad, and the sample size was 400. The research data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows 26.0. The study showed that 60.7% of the nurses were male and 39.3% female. The analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between any age group and education level. Among nurses from any part of the body, the 12-month work-related musculoskeletal prevalence was highest in WMSDs of the low back (51.9%), followed by the neck (37.4%). The main risk factor for WMSDs was exercise. There was a strong correlation between work-related musculoskeletal disorders, age, marital status, education level, seniority, the unit worked in the hospital, smoking, exercise, gender, and work hours (p ≤ 0.05). The results of our study revealed that only physical exercises predict muscular risks during work (OR = 4.366, CL = 1.569–12.15). The findings of the study can be used by hospital administrators to provide appropriate guidance on treatment strategies for the prevention and management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses to reduce occupational risks and improve patient care in hospitals. Keywords: Health workers, Nurses, Work-related musculoskeletal disorder, Risk factors, Musculoskeletal disorders.