Patient Handling in a General Critical Unit: An Ergonomics Evaluation Guided by MAPHO Tool

The objective is to determine the level of exposure of workers to ergonomic risk through the application of the Handling and Assistance to Hospitalized Patient Tool (MAPHO). This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in a General Critical Unit of a private philanthropic hospital in the state of São Paulo. The study was carried out through the evaluation of the environment, work tools, dependency profile, and aspects of work organization. A medium level of exposure of workers to ergonomic risk was determined, through the score obtained in the tool, mainly arising from the absence of employee training and an insufficient number of assistive devices for lifting patients. The study confirmed the importance of health institutions investing in the acquisition of an adequate number of auxiliary devices for patient handling, in the adequate training of the nursing team, and inadequate storage places for them in order to collaborate with occupational health. It is understood that this study will help in the elaboration of proposals for a local intervention directed to the critical information pointed out by the tool.