Knowledge of Body Mechanics Techniques and Associated Factors among Nurses Working in East Shewa Zone Public Hospitals, Oromia Region, Ethiopia, 2022

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders have been consistently high in nursing sectors. Having good knowledge is one of the methods that help to fellow principles of body mechanics techniques. However, there is paucity of information on practice of body mechanics techniques among nurses in Ethiopia. Methods: - An institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted in east Shewa zone public hospitals from August 05 to September 04, 2022. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 422 participants. Data was entered into Epidata version 4.6 and was exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was applied to see association between dependent and independent variables. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to declare associations between dependent and independent variables. P value less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results were summarized and presented by texts, tables and figures. Results: The overall mean was (6.32 + 3.28) for knowledge of body mechanics techniques. 39.1% of studied participants had good knowledge of body mechanics technique. BSc Degree qualification [AOR 3(1.51-5.95)], comprehensive specialized hospital level [AOR 2.25(1.251-4.05)], outpatient unit [AOR 3.16(1.69-5.87)] were associated with knowledge of body mechanics techniques. Conclusion: The degree of knowledge towards body mechanics techniques among nurses working in east Shewa zone public hospital was poor. Level of education, hospital level and unit of working were statistically significant with knowledge of body mechanics techniques. Recommendations: Providing educational opportunities and working in collaboration of nurses of each hospital and shifting working unit were recommended.