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Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to the latest Issue of 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 participating in our Reader Poll 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,
Alex White
Editor
812.931.3492
Alex.White@Hill-Rom.com |
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Take our November Poll
Please take a moment to read the following two questions submitted by our readers before answering our November poll question, thanks!
- What is the reason for the DOL WHD HO 7 ruling* prohibiting workers under 18 years of age from operating or assisting in the operation of electric and air-powered hoists?
(See explanation here.)
(Heidi Belitz, LTC.edu)
- What impact has there been in your organization from the new Federal interpretation that employees under 18 may not operate mechanical lifts?
(In our long-term care facilities it has been somewhat disruptive. We assume it will kill off high school nursing assistant training programs.
(Randy Harper, HCR Manor Care)
*Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Rule HO 7.
Click here for the Poll Question
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Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital Wins 2010 Safe Lifting Leadership Award
Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital, of Whittier, CA, is a 445 bed Acute Care facility comprising Transitional, Acute Rehabilitation, and an offsite Hospice unit. Management approved installation of ceiling lifts in Coronary Care, Respiratory Care, Med/Surg, CT scan, and the Hospice Unit, and the results of their safe patient handling program have been gratifying. In the words of one spokesperson, “We went to executive leaders and the Board of Directors to get them to align and work with us regarding the ceiling lift program we wanted to initiate. We took information to them about how much money was rolling out the back door in our workers’ compensation costs. It was a big undertaking from beginning to end… but its people ’s backs and retirements and lives that change because of this.” Go here to review a 3.5 minute video, and to request a FREE full 13 minute DVD describing Presbyterian’s accomplishments.
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New Reprint Available – “Nurses get a LIFT”
This article from the August 2010 issue of DotMedBusiness focuses on problems such as the increasingly heavy population, the nursing shortage, and the “no
manual lift” movement. If you’d like to order a free copy of the article, please visit this link. |
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Wisdom at Work – The importance of the older and experienced nurse in the workplace
While not directly related to safe patient handling, this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation® (RWJF) white paper relates well to our monthly Poll question regarding experienced nurses leaving the workforce. One projection from a 2003 online survey conducted by the American Nurses Association revealed that, in the age cohort of 40 or older, more than 82 percent of nurses planned to retire in the next 20 years. Generally, workforce experts agree on three major approaches to augment the nursing workforce:
- Increase the number of enrolled nursing students and retain them through graduation.
- Retain new graduates and nurses at all stages of their professional careers, including older nurses.
- Attract nurses back to the bedside who have left the national nursing workforce, such as nurses otherwise employed or those who have retired,
or attract nurses from other countries (even though this latter strategy has some politically charged ramifications).
Read more here. |
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Survey: 28 percent of hospitals have renovated to accommodate the obese
Medical supplier Novation has released its 2010 Bariatric Report, a nationwide survey of about 300 VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem Consortium member
hospitals, confirming that the obesity epidemic poses new and significant challenges to hospitals. According to the report, more than 48 percent of the respondents
saw an increase in admissions of morbidly obese patients since 2008, while 13 percent saw a significant increase. Going back to 2008, 61 percent of hospitals
report slight to significant increases. Read how hospitals are coping with this trend:
Survey: 28 percent of hospitals have renovated to accommodate
the obese - FierceHealthcare
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Equipment Purchasing Checklist – Safe Patient Handling
This check list (courtesy of the Oregon Coalition for Health Care Ergonomics) is designed to help you with the patient handling equipment assessment and purchase
process. It is designed to be used as part of a comprehensive safe program plan.
Note that purchase of equipment should occur after you have identified the hazards to be addressed that are related to patient handling (e.g. the type of lift, transfer, movement or patient care task) and the needs of the patient population
(physical and cognitive abilities and clinical needs). Access this useful checklist here.
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Evaluation of the Workplace Safety Consultation Nursing Home
Ergonomics Services Program
The Workplace Safety Consultation (WSC) unit of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry undertook a collaborative project to provide ergonomics assistance to nursing homes to help management and workers reduce ergonomic risk factors and improve the safety of their workplaces. The cost-benefit analysis showed costs
of implementing ergonomics-based strategies in nursing homes can be recovered within one year, so every additional year maintaining or reducing the incidence of
injuries produces a net cost gain for the nursing homes. Read this comprehensive report here.
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Type of sling with no pressure on legs
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| What type of lift netting can be used with no pressure on legs? |
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John Knolle
In-home |
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Generic policy for maximum weight an
individual can lift
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| Do you have a generic policy that would apply hospital wide (not just for patient lifts and transfers) that ideally indicates the maximum weight an individual can lift? With thanks
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Sue Benson
West Lincoln Memorial Hospital |
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Gait belts being used over upper body casts
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| Is there a warning about Gait Belts being used over upper body casts or clamshell splint where when loaded with weight trapping of caregiver fingers or hands may occur? |
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Ian Brundin
Providence |
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Which lifts provide the option of a weight scale? |
| Which lifts also provide the option of a weight scale? |
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Claudette Raven
Lake Forest Hospital |
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Transferring from supine to upright with manual assistance
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| Can you please provide more information for transferring from supine to upright positioning with manual assistance. |
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Monya Pryor
Bethany Health |
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Motivational posters for safe lifting
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| Do you have any motivational posters for safe patient lifting? Something to encourage staff to use the equipment, but not instructions for using the equipment. |
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Kelly Fadrowski
Howard County General Hospital |
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*The Lift Doctor is actually a panel of clinical and bioengineering lift specialists at Liko |
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This Web newsletter is sponsored by Liko, a Hill-Rom company, and is provided as a service to subscribers. Articles and information available from third parties through links to this Web newsletter are provided "as is." Liko is not responsible for the content of linked articles or news items resident on Websites owned or maintained by third parties, nor for content openly accessible via internet search engines, and makes no warranty, express or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, or the clinical or financial utility of such information. Users should check the terms and conditions of use of each third party Website accessed via links provided by Liko. |
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