Who would you think had more injuries, Nursing assistant staff or construction workers? I would have guessed construction workers but I would have been wrong.
NPR, National Public Radio, reported that nursing staff suffered more musculoskeletal injuries due, mostly, to the strain of lifting patients. Nursing staff experienced injury more than police, correctional officers, truckers and repair workers. When compared by injuries per 10,000 full time employees, nurses and orderlies suffer musculoskeletal injury at about TRIPLE the rate of construction workers! In 2010 the healthcare industry reported 600,000 workplace injuries. That was more than any other occupation. It cost the system $3.1 billion in 2011.
The problem originates with trying to move the patient. Techniques for doing it go back decades. There is just no good way to do it and protect the nurse's back. Extra manpower, or should I say nurse power, helps but is not always available. A cooperative patient is a plus but that is not always possible. When I was brought to a room from the ER after being treated for a collapsed lung I was limp as a wet noodle. I had to be moved from the gurney to the bed. I wanted to help but could not even lift an arm. Fortunately the attending nurse called for help and three other nurses appeared. Each grasped the side of the sheet on which I lay, pulled it taunt, and half lifted-half slid me from gurney to bed. It took seconds and was unbelievably efficient. But I wonder how well it would work with a patient who weighted, say, 300 pounds.
The VA is working to install special equipment to lift patients, as has Baptist Health Systm in Florida. They report lifting injuries have been reduced by 80%. But such change is expensive and slow to be
put in place. In the meantime, hospitals are focusing on encouraging nursing staff to be physically fit.
I'm not sure being physically fit protects one from the physical stresses that result in back injuries. In the short run calling for help and getting it is a good idea. Long term, the mechanical patirnt lift mechanism is the answer.
NPR, National Public Radio, reported that nursing staff suffered more musculoskeletal injuries due, mostly, to the strain of lifting patients. Nursing staff experienced injury more than police, correctional officers, truckers and repair workers. When compared by injuries per 10,000 full time employees, nurses and orderlies suffer musculoskeletal injury at about TRIPLE the rate of construction workers! In 2010 the healthcare industry reported 600,000 workplace injuries. That was more than any other occupation. It cost the system $3.1 billion in 2011.
The problem originates with trying to move the patient. Techniques for doing it go back decades. There is just no good way to do it and protect the nurse's back. Extra manpower, or should I say nurse power, helps but is not always available. A cooperative patient is a plus but that is not always possible. When I was brought to a room from the ER after being treated for a collapsed lung I was limp as a wet noodle. I had to be moved from the gurney to the bed. I wanted to help but could not even lift an arm. Fortunately the attending nurse called for help and three other nurses appeared. Each grasped the side of the sheet on which I lay, pulled it taunt, and half lifted-half slid me from gurney to bed. It took seconds and was unbelievably efficient. But I wonder how well it would work with a patient who weighted, say, 300 pounds.
The VA is working to install special equipment to lift patients, as has Baptist Health Systm in Florida. They report lifting injuries have been reduced by 80%. But such change is expensive and slow to be
put in place. In the meantime, hospitals are focusing on encouraging nursing staff to be physically fit.
I'm not sure being physically fit protects one from the physical stresses that result in back injuries. In the short run calling for help and getting it is a good idea. Long term, the mechanical patirnt lift mechanism is the answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment