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Purpose: The present study attempted to find subjective musculoskeletal symptoms of operating room nurses (OR nurses) and then to use them as basic data for prevention and management of musculoskeletal symptoms of OR nurses. Method: This study was an exploratory research, and data were collected from OR nurses working in 8 polyclinics in Korea from July 26 to August 19, 2004, using a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire contains items concerned with subjective musculoskeletal symptoms include ones with the presence of symptoms and with the degree of discomfort, in the joints such as neck, shoulder, arm/elbow, hand/wrist/finger and waist. For data collection, the aim of the study was explained to the operating room managers to obtain their help, and these questionnaires were sent to hospitals, and were retrieved by post. 271(90.3%) questionnaires were returned among those sent to 300 nurses. 249 questionnaires excluding 22 insufficient ones such as no response were used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 12.0. Subjective musculoskeletal symptoms were analyzed in the number and percentage. Result: 187(75.1%) nurses said they 'had' subjective musculoskeletal symptoms and 62 (24.9%) said they had 'nothing'. 130(52.2%), 125 (50.2%), 113 (45.4%), 86(34.5%), and 42 (16.9%) nurses had subjective musculoskeletal symptoms in waist, shoulder, hand/wrist/ finger, neck, and arm/elbow, respectively. 51(27.3%) and 136 (72.7%) nurses complained of the pain in one site, and in two or more sites, respectively. In particular, 51% and 47.4% nurses said that they were ‘discomforted' due to the pain in waist and in shoulder, respectively. Conclusion: Subjective musculoskeletal symptoms which OR nurses complained of were significant. This may cause difficulty in nursing tasks in the operating room. So various arrangements have to be made for OR nurse with subjective musculoskeletal symptoms at an early stage.