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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has estimated that nearly half of all health service workers will experience at least one work-related musculoskeletal disorder during their careers. Experts say about 38 percent of nurses have suffered back pain severe enough to require leave from work and 12 percent are considering an exit from the profession because of back pain.

When Anne Hudson, RN, suffered an injury to the lumbar region of her lower back while working in an Oregon hospital in 2000, one of the first things she did was attempt to gather information. She wanted advice, descriptions of health products, perhaps even a sympathetic ear. But when she fired up her modem, she found no chat rooms or Web sites devoted to the subject.

So Hudson turned to the American Nurses Association, then to the Oregon Nurses Association. Neither offered to help her personally, although the ANA did direct her to some important literature on the subject.

What she read eventually helped Hudson metamorphose from a victim to an advocate. She found ample evidence of the back injury risks faced by nurses and plenty of suggestions for improvement. But nobody seemed to be doing much about the situation.

Even worse, she discovered that many nurses were effectively being forced out of the industry because few hospitals offer permanent light duty.

"We've lost 2,000 RNs just in Oregon since 1993," Hudson said, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics for accepted workers' compensation claims for disability.

"Where are these nurses? No one knows. No one's tracking them."

Wear and tear

Judged by any rational measure, nursing is hard on the back. According to the bureau, six of the 10 jobs at highest risk for back injuries are in health care. Nurses aides are the most vertebrally challenged in the land, and only construction workers and garbage collectors have it worse than LVNs. RNs rank sixth, right behind truck drivers.

Here are some more numbers likely to get you reaching for your lower back: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has estimated that nearly half of all health service workers will experience at least one work-related musculoskeletal disorder during their careers. Bernice Owen, Ph.D., RN, who has written extensively on the subject, said 38 percent of nurses have suffered back pain severe enough to require leave from work, and that 12 percent are considering an exit from the profession because of back pain.

"The effect is cumulative," said Kevin Byrne, president of CorpMed.com, a company that produces a computer-based, OSHA-approved ergonomics clinic (worth 9.6 hours of continuing education credit). "You think you don't have back pain, but the wear and tear is there. It may be subclinical. Sooner or later, something gives."

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