By Susan Kreimer, MS, contributor
Caregivers need their own helping hand when it comes to preventing injuries, and at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, that comes in the form of more than 200 ceiling lifts that are available to help nurses lift patients. These lifts also help limit the severity of workers’ compensation claims.
“If a patient has mobility issues, we need to use assistive devices to move them rather than manually moving them, if possible,” said Kathy Weitekamp, RN, Gundersen Lutheran’s care manager of employee health services.
The safety of patients and employees continues to garner more attention as health care facilities strive to prevent nurses’ injuries from lifting patients.
“Every day across the country, hundreds of nurses and other caregivers sustain a work-related injury or illness,” said Robert Williamson, RN, BSN, MA, nationwide director of associate safety at Ascension Health in Saginaw, Michigan. “Manually lifting and handling patients is a leading cause of musculoskeletal injuries.”
Nurses and other caregivers can suffer from debilitating back and shoulder injuries as a result of patient repositioning, lateral transfers, bathing and ambulation. In the most severe cases, caregivers can experience chronic pain or complete disability.
“Most patients require lifting and repositioning throughout their hospitalization,” Williamson said. “The frequency of this activity varies depending upon the physical state of the patient.”
Obese and bariatric patients are more common in hospitals and clinics than in the past, raising nurses’ awareness that equipment must be present to accommodate people of all sizes, so that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, Williamson said.
Slider boards, bariatric lifts, wheelchairs and carts help make this possible. Gundersen Lutheran is also pondering the purchase of a wheelchair mover, which can be used for a patient up to 550 pounds, said Weitekamp, who lectured at a recent conference about strategies to promote ceiling lift use in acute care settings.
Back and shoulder injuries are the most costly workers’ compensation claims, and they can have the most career-altering effects for employees. Currently, three of Gundersen Lutheran’s workers must seek different jobs due to their work injuries.
Experts advocate that most injuries can be prevented. “There are many techniques that are available for safe patient handling,” said Cynthia M. Gonzalez, MSN, RN, OCNS-C, APRN, nurse educator at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She chaired the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses’ task force on safe patient handling.
High-risk tasks in orthopaedic nursing were evaluated using input from nurses in the specialty. Evidence-based practice guidelines were developed for four main tasks: ambulation, turning patients, and vertical transfers of total joint patients and those with an extremity cast or splint.
“Our recommendations include the use of ceiling lifts, slings, stand-assist devices, turning clips and sliding sheets,” Gonzalez said.
Different devices are needed depending on an individual’s functional abilities and the task at hand, not age alone. For instance, if a person can partially stand, a stand-assist device may be appropriate.
If a person has lost the ability to bear weight, then a full-body sling with a lift may be necessary, said Gail Powell-Cope, Ph.D., ARNP, FAAN, associate chief of nursing service and research at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida.
Published algorithms can help caregivers on staff decide which equipment to use, and safe patient handling techniques apply the principles of ergonomics, matching the task’s demands with the use of proper lifting and moving equipment, she explained.
If a health care facility or its nursing staff wants to launch or revive a safety program, Powell-Cope recommends that a facility champion meet with the administrative team. The group should assess potential obstacles, such as financial constraints and competing demands. They also should discuss motivating factors, including positive publicity and designation as an employer of choice.
“Armed with this information, the facility champion can develop strategies for overcoming barriers and capitalizing on motivators to keep administrators involved and supportive,” she said.
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