Abstract

Aim: To identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among hospital nurses and explore their effects on productivity loss.

Design: An analytical cross-sectional study with secondary data analysis was conducted.

Methods: Data were collected via an online survey of 607 registered nurses working in general and tertiary hospitals in South Korea. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between musculoskeletal disorders and four productivity loss indicators: absenteeism, presenteeism, perceived productivity loss, and work limitations.

Results: Musculoskeletal disorders were highly prevalent among hospital nurses, with 83.9% of participants reporting muscu-loskeletal disorder symptoms in the past week. Lower back complaints had the highest prevalence. Nurses with musculoskeletal disorders were 3.74 times more likely to experience presenteeism than those without musculoskeletal disorders. They were also 3.00 times more likely to report perceived productivity loss and 2.24 times more likely to experience work limitations. However,no significant relationship was observed between musculoskeletal disorders and absenteeism.

Conclusion: Musculoskeletal disorders contribute to presenteeism, productivity loss, and work limitations among hospital nurses. Targeted interventions for preventing and managing musculoskeletal disorders are essential to mitigate productivity losses and improve nurses' health and job performance. Strategies such as ergonomic workplace modifications, early detection,and effective management of musculoskeletal disorders can help maintain nurses' productivity and well-being.

Clinical Relevance: Addressing musculoskeletal disorders is critical for enhancing nurse productivity and for ensuring the delivery of high-quality patient care. Healthcare organizations can safeguard nurses' health and patient outcomes by reducing presenteeism and work limitations.

Notes

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The license is attached to this item record.

Original Citation: Kang, M., Kim, I., Park, C. and Min, A. (2025), Relationship Between Musculoskeletal Disorders and Productivity Loss Among Hospital Nurses: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study With Secondary Data Analysis. J Nurs Sch, 57: 789-798. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.70020

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Non-member

Type

Article

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Cross-Sectional

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Absenteeism, Musculoskeletal Disorder, Presenteeism, Productivity, Work Limitation

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Sigma Theta Tau International

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External Review: Previously Published Material

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Indexed Previously Published Material (Per Creative Commons License)

Funder(s)

National Research Foundation of Korea

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