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You’ve got only one back, and as a nurse, you must protect it.
To safeguard that precious asset, I’ve designed a three step program to help you avoid back injury. Follow these steps and you’ll have a significantly easier time protecting your back throughout your nursing career.
Step 1? Stretch. Step 2? Strengthen. Step 3? Stand Tall.
There’s nothing fancy here. No gymnastics or yoga master moves. And most of it can be done right at work.
And yes, you need to incorporate all three. While flexibility, strengthening and posture are separate and can be highly complicated, each factor is codependent on the others. If you or your back becomes deficient in one area, the other two will have to compensate and/or will suffer. A weak and/or inflexible back will lead to posture problems. An inflexible back causes muscular imbalance and inflexibility. The circle is never-ending. The take-home message is that all three areas need to be healthy, not just one.
Because…who’s got your back? I mean literally. Who’s taking care of your back?!
So first, 5 stretches you can do at work and at home.
Next, 3 strengthening exercises.
Finally, 4 tips for standing tall.
Ready to begin? Let’s stretch.
