Abstract - Journal of Translational Research (2019) Volume 3, Issue 4

The Elderly Nursing Personnel According to Ergonomic Aspects

Technology and Innovation Professional Master’s Degreefrom the University Center Teresa D’ Avila – Unifatea, Brazil, E-mail: claudialysia@gmail.com

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze elderly nursing professionals aged 60 and over who are active in the nursing profession, to identify the socio-demographic data and the agents that provide ergonomic risks that are submitted to nursing professionals when performing their activities within a hospital unit. With the increasing number of elderly people in our country and consequently, a greater number of professionals are also in nursing who are elderly and continue to practice. Analyzing this context there is a need to analyze the health of these professionals, identify which ergonomic risks this category is subject to, a better future and better working conditions for these health workers. The aging process has become more intense in Brazil since the 1960s, due to a significant decrease in fertility and birth rate and a progressive increase in life expectancy. The Brazilian population is comprised of 190,755,199 million people according to the 2010 demographic census, of which 51%, or 97 million are women and 49%, or 93 million, are men. The number of elderly people is 20,590,599 million, or approximately 10.8% of the total population. The increase in life expectancy has been surprisingly higher among the elderly over 80 years of age, because between 1997-2007, the population aged 60-69 grew from 21.6% and that of over 80 years of age increased 47.8%. The entire elderly population has seen a significant increase in our country. According to the Statute of the Elderly and the National Policy of the Elderly people are considered elderly people of 60 years or more. This is due to the diversity of the segment considered elderly, since there are included people from 60 to 100 years old or older.

Methodology: It is a qualitative-quantitative research, of the descriptive type with an exploratory approach. The study was carried out in a Santa Casa do Vale do Paraíba, with nursing professionals aged 60 or over. The data were collected by the researcher, through closed questions elaborated with a focus on ergonomics and socio-demographic issues (sex, age, professional training, time of professional performance and time in the institution, work shift, elitism and smoking, health problems ergonomics, presence of noise, thermal comfort, lighting, load lifting, manual transport of cargo, identified ergonomic risks and continuous education on ergonomics).The inclusion criteria of the research were: retired or not, who work in the hospital sector and at any work shift. The collected data were inserted in a spreadsheet (Excel software, 2003) and analyzed in the light of phenomenology. Husserl’s phenomenology aims to investigate the being of the form in which it appears in the phenomenon itself.

Results and Discussion: In compliance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, six (100%) female nursing professionals, aged between 61 and 71, were included in this study, of which four (66.6%) were nursing assistants and two (33.3%) nursing techniques, as for schooling, three (50%) have completed the first grade and three (50%) have completed high school. They have been working in the same institution for more than 10 years. With the increase in life expectancy and the change in the rules for retirement, we began to have an active population of a higher age group with new needs associated with the natural degradation of the system). The author also points out that in the future there will be a greater number of elderly people fit for work and with a strong production requirement. The time of performance in the area is between 20 to 46 years in the exercise of the profession. When asked about organizational ergonomics (arrangement of equipment, cabinets and shelves), all (100%) reported that they did not interfere with their work activities. All evaluated that the noise in the work environment was tolerable and in terms of thermal comfort four (66.6%) reported being good. Three (50%) stated that lighting in the workplace was good. When asked about the capacity to load cargo, two (33.3%) said to be difficult, two (33.3%) said to be moderate, two (33.3%) easy. For manual cargo transport, five (83.3%) responded to carry out this activity frequently. As Iida states that the manual transport of loads has consequences for workers’ health. And for the elderly nursing professional is no

Conclusions: The results reveal a female profile, aged 60 or over, working in the same institution for more than 10 years, practicing for more than 20 years, denying alcoholic beverages and smoking, approving organizational ergonomics in the workplace, noise is tolerable, the lighting is good, they do the manual transport of loads and lifting frequently. It should be emphasized that according to nursing professionals, they have never had training on ergonomic risks, which demonstrates a lack of concern for the health of professionals by those responsible for hospital administration. The social and scientific relevance of this study refers mainly to nursing professionals who are elderly and active in nursing, since in our country a few studies directed to these professionals of this age group. Therefore, it is important that more studies are carried out with these workers, aiming to improve the working environment more and more for these professionals, who are increasingly working in the labor market, specifically in nursing. Among the challenges faced to carry out this study, the low number of specific publications of the nursing area on the theme stands out. It is considered of paramount importance that nursing professionals and academics deepen in the study of this subject aiming at its greater dissemination and greater understanding. It is suggested to carry out future studies whose research lines proceed to the standardization of methods of evaluation of the exposure and the myoskeletal outcome, aiming to offer safer means for proposing measures to prevent and promote the health of nursing workers.

Note: This work is partly presented at Annual Child and Family Healthcare Nursing Conference, August 13-14, 2018 Bali, Indonesia