ABSTRACT
Imagine that you are at the patient’s bedside (in the community or a hospital). The bed does not have an adjustable height and there is a small bedside locker. You have to bend to attend to the patient’s personal care needs. You stoop to pick up items off of the floor (such as slippers) and toiletries from the lower shelves of the locker. In the sluice room you stretch and tiptoe to get items from high shelves. When transferring the patient from the bed to the chair, you stoop, bend, twist and stretch, in addition to adopting awkward and static standing postures. These repetitive poor and complacent techniques for handling of patients and loads cause cumulative stress on the back.
