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MSD statistics
12% of nurses leave the profession each year due to back injuries.
Over 52% of nurses suffer from chronic back pain.
8.5 out of 100 workers (all industries combined) reported non-fatal occupational injuries and illness. However, nearly 12 out of 100 nurses in hospitals reported work related injuries, and 17.3 out of 100 nurses working in nursing homes reported injuries - double the rate for all industries combined.
Back injury costs range from $5,000 - $100,000.
A recent survey found that 44% of hospital executives who responded listed workers� compensation costs among their top concerns.
In 1990, San Francisco General Hospital employees suffered lost time injuries costing nearly $230,000. on the day shift alone, there were 16 lost-time injuries that rang up a bill of more than $140,000. Factored into these figures were, of course, the workers� compensation costs, but also the costs for temporary replacement help, overtime for staff filling in, legal fees, claims processing, and repair of damaged property.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 61,500 registered nurses, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants lost an average of 5 days away from work due to work-related musculoskelatal disorders.
Nursing is the riskiest occupation for back injuries with double the rate of back injuries of all other industries combined. In fact, nursing has the second highest incidence of all types of non-fatal work related injuries in the United States.
In a study of manual handling in a large teaching medical center, 40.1% of nurses reported an injury associated with manual handling, of which 75.9% were back injuries.
In 1998, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported an annual injury rate of 80,000 among nursing professionals. Among these injuries, nurses have twice the number of back injuries of any other profession.
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