When thinking about dangerous jobs, nurses don’t really enter into the public consciousness. We often think of police and firefighters as having dangerous jobs, and rightly so.
Yet, being a nurse has a lot of possibility of injuries and illnesses that many people don’t realize. I am sure that there are workers’ comp attorneys keeping very busy with nurses as clients!
Becoming a nurse is very rewarding and is something that should be pursued if you have that calling. Just be aware of some of the possible dangers of doing this job.
In this article, let’s go over some of the ways that being a nurse can be dangerous.
1 – Physical strains
There is a lot of heavy lifting when you are a nurse. Changing a patient’s sheets while they are in the bed, or even having to move a patient from one bed to another can put a huge strain on the back. Since you are generally doing so in an awkward position and the weight of a person is not even throughout the body, risk of a back injury is very high.
Nurses are seven times more likely to endure a musculoskeletal injury than in any other profession.
2 – Chronic fatigue
Injuries often happen when we are over tired. It can be as mundane as poking yourself with a needle by accident, or getting into a car accident on the way home after a long shift.
Nurses are so vital to the healthcare industry that there is a lot of pressure to work overtime every week. There are very few nursing positions that come in around 40 hours per workweek that it is almost unheard of.
These excessive hours also put a strain on your health as sleep is required to recharge. This is a luxury that many nurses can’t afford and because of this they are often not in peak health.
3- Workplace violence
Verbal and physical abuse is commonplace in a hospital setting. Patients are often on drugs that alter their personality and some become quite aggressive.
Just the verbal abuse alone can be very traumatic to a nurse and result in PTSD type symptoms if exposed for prolonged periods.
Add in physical confrontations with patients and visitors and it is something that can be quite dangerous.
4 – Hazardous chemical exposure
Dangerous gases, formaldehyde, disinfectants and so many other chemicals are used on a daily basis on a hospital ward that many nurses can get very sick when exposed.
Many nurses report having asthma-like symptoms from repeated exposure to harmful chemicals and other respiratory illnesses. Chemical burns are also quite frequent as sometimes being in a hurry causes a person to spill a chemical.
Pregnant nurses in particular are at a high risk of having trouble with their pregnancy due to being exposed to chemicals while on the job.
5 – infectious disease
With coronavirus dominating the news cycle right now, it’s time to give some due to nurses who are often exposed to these diseases and are at high risk of contagion. A huge percentage of the SARS patients were the healthcare workers themselves.
They are especially susceptible in the beginning phases of an outbreak since they aren’t aware of the dangers until it is late in the game.
