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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. We hope you have a question for our "Lift Doctor," and if you feel others in your organization might benefit from receiving Safe Lifting News on a monthly basis, please forward this copy so that they can sign up!
Sincerely,
Alex White, Editor
812.931.3492
Alex.White@Hill-Rom.com
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Read the Results of Last Month’s Poll
Infection Control
Click here to see the results and read some of the comments from participants.
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From the Reading Room
Safe Patient Handling & Lifting Standards for a Safer American Workforce
In recent testimony before the US Senate Committee on Health, Education and Workplace Safety, Capt. James W. Collins, Ph.D., M.S.M.E., Associate Director for Science, Division of Safety Research (NIOSH) stated: "We all have a vested interest in taking care of those who help take care of us and our families when we need medical attention. It is likely that the implementation of the research presented here will significantly reduce injuries and illnesses for health care workers and increase the quality of patient care. In turn, reducing MSDs among nurses may help address the critical issues of nurse recruitment and retention." Read the entire testimony here.
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SAFE PATIENT HANDLING PROGRAM AND FACILITY DESIGN
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Construction and Facilities Management recently issued recommendations in VA Construction Design Guidelines for the ergonomic evaluation of new construction, renovations and retrofits of existing construction. Included were necessary building criteria for installation of ceiling-mounted or overhead lift systems… and for ensuring adequate and accessible storage space for portable or floor-based patient handling equipment. Read the directive here. |
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Implementing a Safe Patient Handling and Movement Program in a Rehabilitation Setting
A SPHM program affords a safer progression through the patient's care and greater preservation of the patient's dignity. SPHM equipment and practices enhance a patient's ability to assist in movement and allow the patient to progress as confidence, strength, and endurance improve. These improvements, in turn, promote and encourage patient autonomy, conserve energy, and maximize therapy tolerance and rehabilitation potential. Collectively, these factors may improve patient satisfaction, positively influence patient outcomes, and shorten overall length of stay. Read this informative article here. |
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Six Steps to a Safer Workforce: Building Accountability as an Essential Element for Injury Prevention in the Healthcare Industry
The authors of this PMA (Pennsylvania Manufacturer's Association) white paper explore the factors that have made accountability for safety so critical to long-term success in healthcare facilities -- and they offer recommendations on how healthcare facilities can plan and implement best practices that hold professionals accountable for workplace safety. Read the paper here. |
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Safe Patient Handling—Are We Doing It Yet?
The National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON) has been at the forefront of increasing the awareness of its members through education and congress sessions about the effects of injuries and the need to be good role models for the concepts of safe patient handling. However, nurses continue to disregard the potential career-ending or life-hampering effects of not participating in safe patient-handling procedures. Resistance to the value of safe patient handling still exists. This article revisits some of the reasons for making safe patient handling a priority in your work area. Read more here. |
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New patient lifts mean safer care
With a $1 million initiative now in place, Cooley Dickinson Hospital has joined the 6 percent of hospitals nationwide, primarily teaching hospitals that have implemented a comprehensive safe patient handling program designed to prevent back, musculoskeletal and other injuries associated with lifting and repositioning patients. See their news release here. |
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Assisting a person down stairs using a gait belt |
| When assisting an unsteady person, wearing a gait belt, down a flight of stairs, and you cannot stand beside them, should you be in front or back? I am concerned about being in front if they should fall, that I could also be injured. |
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Darlene Mull
Home Care |
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Body mechanics when pushing a patient in a wheelchair or stretcher |
| When transferring residents with or without a lifting device, if using poor body mechanics does it have more weight than if using proper body mechanics when pulling pushing or even turning? |
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Cynthia Lawson
Adult Day Care |
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Attaching sling straps when using overhead lifts |
| When using overhead lifts do we attach the shoulder straps of the sling first and then the bottom straps like we do on the floor model lifts? |
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Crystal-Gayle Hallet
Red Deer Hospital |
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Locking Sabina® lift brakes while raising or lowering a resident |
| What is the reason that we need to lock the brakes on the Sabina® lift as we raise and lower the resident? |
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Roxanne Wile
Grace Lutheran Foundation |
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Using pivot transfer devices |
| Are pivot transfers and pivot devices safe to use or is the risk of injury high when utilizing these techniques? |
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Susanne Gilham
Mersey Community Hospital (Australia) |
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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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© 2011 Liko. All Rights Reserved
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