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836-845 J. Sepp, M. Järvis, P. Tint, V. Siirak and Reinhold, K.
EMG measurements of thumb muscles of nurses and caregivers
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EMG measurements of thumb muscles of nurses and caregivers

J. Sepp¹*, M. Järvis², P. Tint², V. Siirak² and Reinhold, K.²

¹Tallinn Health Care College; Tallinn University of Technology, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Business Administration, Ehitajate 5, EE19086 Tallinn, Estonia 2Tallinnn University of Technology, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Business Administration, Ehitajate 5, EE19086 Tallinn, Estonia *Correspondence: jaana.sepp@ttk.ee

Abstract:

The number of ageing people in Estonia is increasing. Convenience for personnel in the nursing homes for the elderly and enabling high-quality care is essential. This includes new work methods to relieve the physical burden of nursing workers and the mental stress decreasing interventions. In the theoretical part of the paper, the physical and psychosocial risk factors of nurses and caregivers are dealt with. The aim of the study is to measure the m. abductor pollicis brevis fatigue in connection with the physical stress of nurses and caregivers. The experimental part of the paper concentrates on the physical stress factors. Electromyography (eMotion EMG) is used as the method for the determination of the nursing workers’ thumb muscle’s (m. abductor pollicis brevis) fatigue. The results show the linear dependences between the level of fatigue of the thumb muscles at the beginning and at the end of an 8-hour workday; between the EMG signals from the muscles in the resting state and after a 5-minute strained state. The interviews with the nurses showed that the renewal of equipment and rooms in the nursing homes is the main factor to prevent the physiological stress at workplaces (pain in the hands, low back pain etc.). In the newly built nursing homes with modern equipment, the workers are satisfied and no physiological stress was noticed. Key words: psychological stress, fatigue, nursing homes, nurses working conditions, job satisfaction.INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL BASIS

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