5 Ways Nurses Can Keep Feet and Low Back Pain at Bay

Long shifts wreck your feet and your back. Lifting, transferring, reaching, and standing for hours load your muscles in ways they were never built to handle. You can't avoid the work, but you can protect your body. Here are five things that actually help.

1. Fix your posture.

Lifting and transferring patients are the most common reasons nurses develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders. How you sit, reach, and stand the rest of the shift adds up too.

When you stand, line your spine up with your hips and keep your stomach tucked. When you sit, keep your back straight and put equal weight on both hips. Avoid abrupt position changes, and use proper body mechanics every time you move a patient.

2. Invest in a good pair of shoes.

Nursing shoes are lighter, built to protect your feet from spills, and many have soles designed to keep you from slipping. The right size, solid arch support, and quality materials carry you through a 12-hour shift in a way old tennis shoes never will. If your feet are aching two hours in, your shoes are the problem.

3. Stretch on duty.

Holding one position loads your muscles unevenly and weakens them over time. Stretching loosens them back up. It doesn't have to be intense. A short hamstring stretch on the stairs between rounds does real good.

4. Move and exercise.

Stretching relieves pain in the moment. Exercise keeps it away longer. Strength training like body squats builds stability through your whole frame. Pilates and yoga target both strength and flexibility. Two or three sessions a week is enough to notice the difference.

5. Manage your stress.

Stress makes you feel pain more because it releases hormones that sharpen your pain receptors. That shows up as low back pain, jaw tension, and stomach upset. After a hard shift, take time to decompress. A walk in the park or an hour cooking something new costs nothing and pays off.

Proper Body Mechanics for Nurses

Nursing means bending, flexing, pushing, and pulling all day. That puts you at real risk for strain, back injury, even fractures. Good body mechanics, the coordinated effort of your muscles, bones, and nervous system, is your best defense.

Core rules for moving patients

• Keep your lower back in its normal position.
• Get as close to the patient's bed as you can.
• Never twist. Side step or pivot instead.
• Set a wide, solid base of support before you lift.
• Keep your abdominals contracted, bow slightly at the hips, and squat.
• Hold your head up and your shoulders back.
• Push up from your knees and use your own momentum to lift.

Done right, this protects you from musculoskeletal strain, staff and patient injury, and fatigue.

Stable center of gravity

Keep your center of gravity low to distribute your weight evenly. Flex your knees and keep your body straight rather than bending at the waist. The lower your center of gravity, the better your balance.

Wide base of support

Spread your feet to a reasonable distance for more stability, and flex your knees to bring your center of gravity closer to your base.

Proper body alignment

Alignment is how your joints, tendons, ligaments, and muscles sit when you take a position. Keep a line of gravity running through your base of support to hold your balance. Balance the work between your upper and lower body, lean on your stronger muscle groups, and keep your back upright during any intervention.

Moving clients and objects

When pushing: stay close, place one foot in front of the other, plant your hands on the object, flex your elbows, and lean in. Shift your weight from the flexor to the extensor muscles of your leg and apply pressure with your leg muscles. Take rest breaks to avoid fatigue.

When pulling: stay close, place one foot in front of the other, grip the object, flex your elbows, and lean away. Shift your weight away from the object, avoid extra movement, and take rest breaks.

When lifting and carrying: squat facing the object, grip it and tighten your core, lift with your dominant leg muscles, hold it at waist height close to your center of gravity, and keep your back erect.