EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAM ON KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF ERGONOMICS AMONG STAFF NURSES

DOI: https://doie.org/10.65985/jbse.2025589288

Ms. Shubhangi Santosh Ahir, Dr. Shubhangi Malavade

Keywords:

Ergonomics, intensive care unit, Knowledge, Practice, Structured teaching Programme.

Abstract:

Introduction: Occupational health, integral to public health, strives to enhance the physical, mental, and social well-being of workers across professions.[1] Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is prevalent among nursing personnel, identified as a high-risk group within the medical service industry, especially in the fast-paced Intensive Care Unit (ICU) environment.[5] Ergonomics is the “science of fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capabilities of the working population.[6] Providing consistent and attentive care is important in caregiving settings, as many patients heavily depend on nursing staff to meet their daily health and personal needs. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured teaching program on the knowledge and practice of ergonomics among staff nurses working in the intensive care unit. Method: A quantitative quasi-experimental design with non-randomized control groups was utilized. Sixty staff nurses were chosen through convenience sampling and evenly distributed between the control and experimental groups. A pre-test was conducted prior to the structured teaching program, and a post-test was carried out on the sixth day to assess its impact. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. Result: The experimental group improved significantly, with all participants reaching excellent post-test scores compared to 93.33% poor and 6.67% average in the pre-test. The control group showed minimal change. Poor ergonomic practices dropped from 36.67% to 3.33%, and REBA scores reduced from 7.53 to 5.60, indicating the effectiveness of the structured teaching program. Conclusion: The study highlights a significant improvement in knowledge and practice among ICU staff nurses following the structured teaching program on ergonomics. Recommendation: To improve ergonomic practices, future studies should focus on incorporating ergonomic training among staff nurses working in the ICU.

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