Synergonomi och arbetsbelysning för sjuksköterskor inom avancerad hemsjukvård

Sammanfattning: The main aim of this master thesis was to examine the visual ergonomics and the systematic work environment management concerning lighting issues for nurses within domiciliary care. Further aims were to examine a few existing lighting solutions, to come up with ideas for future possible lighting solutions, and to evaluate if the legal regulations for lighting is satisfying and if the regulations are obeyed in domiciliary nursing. The methods used were a questionnaire completed by 55 nurses, field studies of used lightings in cooperation with a student in industrial esign, test of ten existing lighting solutions in a laboratory environment, and a field test of five existing lighting solutions tested by nine nurses in the home of the patient. The result indicates that 40 % of the asked nurses were dissatisfied with the working light in the patient’s homes. All respondents reported poor working light close to the patient, 50 % reported that this problem occurred daily. One third reported that they had to work in uncomfortable working postures due to insufficient working light, and 15 % reported risk of making mistakes due to the same reason. The respondents were most disturbed by insufficient working light when handling medicine, inserting cannulae, taking blood samples, wound care, and patient evaluation. Visual discomfort was reported by 60 % of the nurses. The results showed a significant correlation between visual discomfort and headache, neck discomfort, and symptoms from the shoulders. There was a strong tendency to a reversed correlation between visual discomfort and social support. Regular evaluation of the work environment in the patient’s home were rarely performed on initiative by the employer. Few nurses reported that they had a checklist for examining the work environment in the patient’s home, and lighting was not mentioned on the few checklists that in fact existed. The studied group did not meet the legal regulations concerning systematic work environment management for lighting issues. Neither did any of the tested, existing lighting solutions met all the requirements that our group stated for a suitable lighting solution for medical care in the home environment. The content of the legal regulations concerning lighting at domiciliary nursing are found to be sufficiently written, the main problem seems to be that these regulations regarding lighting are not followed within domiciliary nursing. Conclusions: Working light and the systematic work environment management needs improvement within domiciliary nursing. There is a need for specially designed lighting solutions for domiciliary nursing and home care.