Ergonomics and skin and respiratory tract reactions related to antibiotic reconstitution among nurses and ward pharmacists

Reconstituting antibiotics for clinical use requires static postures and repetitive motions which may contribute to the development of musculoskeletal symptoms. Exposure to drugs can cause allergic contact reactions, with antibiotics being the most common cause for occupational contact sensitization among health care workers. We evaluated ergonomics and skin and respiratory tract reactions associated with parenteral antibiotic reconstitution among nurses and ward pharmacists in a tertiary hospital in Kuopio, Finland. A total of 28 ward pharmacists and 296 nurses were sent a link to a questionnaire asking about musculoskeletal symptoms and skin and respiratory tract reactions associated with antibiotic reconstitution. All of the 28 pharmacists and 92 nurses (response rate 100 and 31 %, respectively) answered the questionnaire. Musculoskeletal symptoms associated with antibiotic reconstitution were more commonly experienced by the pharmacists than by the nurses (68 vs. 5 %; p