SAFE PATIENT HANDLING
TO PREVENT INJURIES IN
THE WORKPLACE
Victoria Clayton,
Olivia McBride,
Lester Ignacio,
Ellie Wertheimer
The Problem & Proposed Solutions
Introduction
The problem: Unsafe patient handling
>20% of nursing injuries
Solutions:
National Institution of Occupational
Safety and Health Standards
American Nurses Association &
Legislation (Waters, 2007)
The VA Safe Patient Handling program
(Hodgson, Matz, & Nelson, 2013)
PLAN: Objectives and Predictions
Objective:
Decrease nursing injuries related to
patient handling through an Injury
Prevention and Fall Prevention Task
Force
Predictions:
Nursing injuries will reduce by 40% within
1 year (Hodgson, Matz, & Nelson, 2013)
PLAN: Injury Prevention & Fall
Prevention Task Force
Who: Nursing staff, PCTs
What: Equipment, techniques to reduce
falls
Where: Every patient unit
Data Collection: Musculoskeletal injuries
and falls
DO: Implementing the Plan
Goal: establish a culture of safety (Hodgson,
Matz, Nelson, 2013).
Task force will hold educational classes and
demonstrations for nurses and PCTs.
Task force will collect data related to patient
falls and nurse injuries.
DO: Risk Assessment
Education will include how to assess risk.
T.I.L.E.
Task
Repetition, movements, distance, equipment
Individual
Health problems, strength, special clothing
Load
Weight, shape, manageability
Environment
DO: Equipment Use
The recommended weight limit per person is
35 pounds, or 51 pounds under ideal
conditions (Waters, 2007).
Equipment examples:
Ceiling lifts
Floor-based lifts
Lateral transfer devices
Gait belts
Motorized stretchers
Ergonomic shower chairs
DO: Data Collection
After educational classes, the task force will
visit hospital floors to assess nurses use of
techniques and equipment.
Data will include nurse injuries related to
patient handling will be collected after one
year.
STUDY: Analyzing the data
Nursing ranked 8th with
injuries.
Musculoskeletal injury is the
number one cause for loss of
nurses from the workforce.
20% of injuries to nurses are
from patient-handling.
Spines, shoulders, hands,
and wrists.
2.9 million nurses in the U.S.
94.3% women.
(Hodgson, Matz, & Nelson, 2013)
STUDY: Comparing results to
predictions
Results:
Lifting equipments.
SPH program = Injuries
declined by 40%.
Improved satisfaction
Measuring/predictions:
Injury reports
Tracking system
Surveys
(Waters, 2007)
STUDY: Summary
Musculoskeletal injuries from patient-
handling is the leading cause for loss of
nurses.
It is preventable with a comprehensive
safe patient-handling program in place.
ACT: What Changes Have Been
Made?
Using task force to educate nurses on what safe
patient handling is and different techniques to use.
Evaluating the implementation of equipment to all
the units
Reducing musculoskeletal injuries to nurses and
keeping track of musculoskeletal injuries.
Musculoskeletal disorders can affect the
musculoskeletal, nervous and neurovascular
systems (Slusser, Rice, & Miller, 2012) .
ACT: Implementing Nationwide
Demonstrating how to use the equipment
Funding-site visits to hospitals that would adopt
the implementations and then having nurses teach
it back to us (Hodgson, Matz, & Nelson, 2013).
Having data calls for equipment needs.
(Hodgson, Matz, Nelson, 2013)
References
Anderson, M. P., Carlisle, S., Thomson, C., Ross, C.,
Reid, H. J., Hart, N. D., & Clarke, A. (2014). Safe
moving and handling of patients: An interprofessional
approach. Nursing Standard, 28(46), 37-41.
Hodgson, M. J., Matz, M. W., Nelson, A. (2013). Patient
Handling in the Veterans Health Administration:
Facilitating Change in the Health Care Industry. J Occup
Environ Med, 55(10), 1230-1237.
References (continued)
Shawn, R., Slusser, L. R., Rice, M. S., Miller, B. K.
(2012). Safe patient handling curriculum in occupational
therapy and occupational therapy asstant programs: A
descriptive study of school curriculum within the United
States of America. Work, 42(3), 385-392.
Waters, T.R. (2007). When is it safe to manually lift a
patient? American Journal of Nursing, 107(8).
