Health Promotion Essay

Promotion of Back Safety Among Healthcare Providers

Historically, the nursing profession has been actively involved in the health promotion and disease prevention among the general public. However, while caring for others, nurses often neglect their personal safety, which ultimately results in the high level of work-related injuries. Failure to timely address risk factors for nursing can have dire consequences for patient outcomes, since it is often associated with increased medication errors and patient falls, poor quality of care, and permanent disability of the nursing staff (Stokowski, 2014).
According to the statement issued by the United States Department of Labor, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of pain, suffering,

6). Workplace health promotion designed to improve lifestyle, and ultimately enhance health, the ability to function, and productivity (Rongen, Robroek, van Lenthe, & Burdorf, 2013, p. 406). Over the years, various theoretical models have evolved to “articulate variables involved in health behavior to predict participation and engage would be non-participants” (Galloway, 2003). Health Belief Model was one of the first theories of health behavior developed in 1950s by a group of social psychologists, who sought to explain what motivates public to participate in programs designed for wellness promotion and disease prevention (Nursing Theories, 2013). According to this model, preventative behaviors depend on the individuals’ beliefs, including their vulnerabilities to the disease, the effect of the disease on their lives, and the effect of health activities on reducing the disease severity and susceptibility (Sharafkhani, Khorsandi, Shamsi, & Ranjbaran, 2014, p.

The three-month intervention targeted the following areas: improvement of worker health through the involvement of unit managers, implementation of unit-wide safety changes, and worker education. The intervention agenda included three themes: 1) improvement of unit ergonomics and safety, 2) practicing safe patient handling, and 3) enhancing staff physical fitness. Floor safety champions were appointed to guide staff during the implementation of the safe patient handling activities. The program included mentoring sessions with an ergonomic specialist, which focused on increasing awareness of strategies to reduce the risk of injury to the worker and patient. Expanded knowledge, readily available supervisor support, and the improved work environment were associated with reduced worker stress and increased consistency in the implementation of safety techniques among workers (Caspi et al.,