
			August 2009

Dear Subscriber,

Welcome to the latest Issue of our e-newsletter, Safe Lifting News. Our mission is to keep you informed about what's happening in the world of safe patient lifting and caregiver injury prevention.

Please consider taking our Summer Safe Lifting Quiz, below... and we always encourage our readers to submit questions for our popular column, "Ask the Lift Doctor." Just use the link below. And thanks for your ideas and feedback, we truly appreciate your interest and participation!

Sincerely,

Melissa Nowitz
Editor in Chief
888-545-6671
Melissa.nowitz@hill-rom.com

Summer Safe Lifting Quiz

Click here for a summertime challenge to test your skills and knowledge about safe lifting.

From the Reading Room

NIOSH Science Blog: Preventing Back Injuries in Healthcare Settings

Direct and indirect costs associated with back injuries in the healthcare industry are estimated to be $20 billion annually. Additionally, nursing aides and orderlies suffer the highest prevalence (18.8%) and report the most annual cases (269,000) of work-related back pain among female workers in the United States. In 2000, 10,983 registered nurses suffered lost-time work injuries due to lifting patients. Twelve percent of nurses report that they left the nursing profession because of back pain... To review the reader comments on this Blog site, click here.

“Ergonomic Safety for Patients and Staff”

This Department of Defense PowerPoint Presentation discusses prevalence and results of caregiver injuries related to manual lifting of patients. Among its interesting observations, “A 35 year old, GS7 Step 5 employee will receive over $1,600,000 in compensation if they never return to work after an injury (assuming a life expectancy of 70 years), not including medical expenses.” View the presentation here.

Space Planning for the Bariatric Patient

This article in the March, 2009 issue of Bariatric Times describes how, in attempting to provide quality care for bariatric residents, planners and administrators must understand the relationship between space, equipment, patient care, patient size, and furnishings. Based on current safe patient handling practices and equipment technology, several guideline recommendations are made for all who are addressing the need; including designers, architects, and nursing personnel. If your facility is in the process of assessing its bariatric space needs, click here.

Hoists give disabled children a new lease of life (UK)

DISABLED youngsters attending a care centre in Newcastle are being given a new lease of life following the installation of hoisting and tracking systems. The equipment is playing a big part in ensuring visitors to the Alan Shearer Centre can escape the harsh realities of living with a disability.

Nurses get a boost

Manually lifting patients is a leading cause of injuries.

Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, CO, uses new ceiling lifts to lift and move those patients who can’t help lift themselves. Exempla’s mechanical lifts are part of a growing American trend toward hospitals favoring technology over manpower for lifting patients, said Dr. Audrey Nelson, director of patient safety research at the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital and a national expert on safe patient handling.

“It’s like a fire going throughout the whole United States,” said Nelson, adding that Europe and Australia have used ceiling lifts for 15 to 20 years. Fueling the fire is the decades-old nurse shortage and the high rate of injury for nurses, said Ken Harwood, vice president of the American Physical Therapy Association’s practice and education unit.

Recommendations for Turning Patients with Orthopaedic Impairments

In response to the changing healthcare environment and the increased number of musculoskeletal disorders seen in nursing, the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON) developed the Safe Patient Handling Taskforce. This task force developed orthopaedic clinical algorithms using scientific evidence, ergonomic safety, and safe patient-handling equipment that described the correct mode in which to safely care for not only the patient but also the caregiver. This article describes proposed ergonomic solutions for one high-risk patient-handling task in orthopaedic nursing—turning (logrolling) an orthopaedic patient in bed.

More about powered bed movers...

One of our UK readers, Ken Cookson, has sent along some additional information regarding one of the Lift Doctor questions that appeared in last month’s newsletter. Ken is an avid contributor and has recently completed a research project on the subject of Powered Bed Movers. Ken is Manual Handling Advisor at Aintree Hospitals in Liverpool. More information is available through the links below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8037414.stm

http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/local-news/124257-hospital-pushing-a-good-idea-with-super-trolleys.html

Average girth and height measurement for bariatric patients

Can you tell me if there is an average girth measurement for a bariatric individual in the weight range of 800-1000 #? And is there an average height? I know there will be significant variations.

Sheryl Bryant
Lakeland Regional Medical Center

Guidelines for performing tasks

I had asked previously if the lift requirements would be the same for PTs v. other health care workers. You listed the NIOSH guidelines. Can you tell me your professional opinion if someone were required to perform the following tasks: “the ability to ambulate, position, lift, push, pull or catch a falling patient weighing 200 to 250 lbs. and, in less frequent situations, a patient weighing over 400 lbs;” Thank you.

Theresa Keenan

*The Lift Doctor is actually a panel of clinical and bioengineering lift specialists at Liko