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Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to the 50th issue of Safe Lifting News. We are very excited about achieving this milestone and are very thankful to our loyal and devoted subscribers who have made this all possible.
As always, 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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At long last...a professional association devoted to Safe Patient Handling
 Here's some exciting news for our readers worldwide: A new organization – the Association of Safe Patient Handling Professionals (ASPHP) -- was launched March 28th at the Safe Patient Handling and Movement Conference in Florida. Chartered as a non-profit corporation, the mission of ASPHP is to "improve the safety of caregivers and their patients by advancing the science and practice of safe patient handling." One of the most noteworthy objectives of the organization is establishment of a Certification Program designed to encompass a broad range of individuals with varied educational and experiential backgrounds who participate in safe patient handling practices or initiatives. We'll cover additional news in coming months, and meanwhile you can read more about ASPHP here.
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Take our May Poll
Are caregivers aware?
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From the Reading Room
Review of Facility Guidelines Institute recommendations…
The Facility Guidelines Institute's recently introduced design requirements address critical safety issues that too many people who plan, design and equip health care facilities (or who approve capital budgets for their construction) might not even think about — namely those involving caregiver safety and the safe movement of patients and residents. The Health Guidelines Revision Committee of the Facility Guidelines Institute addressed patient movement in its Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities. The results — a collaborative effort of designers, providers, researchers and regulators — can be found in the 2010 Guidelines, published by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA). Read more here. |
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Safe patient handling within the U.S. Army Public Health Command
The U.S. Army Public Health Command (Provisional) [USAPHC (Prov)] is implementing its Safe Patient-Handling Program in Army medical treatment facilities. Their objective is to decrease caregiver injuries and make hospital stays more comfortable for their patients. It's a program with potential to save dollars, build staff morale, increase patient satisfaction, benefit caregivers short- and long-term, and offer savings to medical facilities. Read these two associated articles here and here. |
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The elephant in the room: Huge rates of nursing and healthcare worker injury
This informative article, originally prepared by the Utah Nurses Association, documents the size and scope of the healthcare worker injury problem and summarizes body mechanics issues and equipment considerations as well. Share this article with your staff. |
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"Journey to the future" -- Establishing a Safe Patient Handling/Minimal Lift Program
This summary article documents one acute care facility's journey toward a comprehensive safe patient-handling program. Among the conclusions: Much more guidance is available now to those facilities wanting to start a safe patient handling program or improve an existing program. However, the thought of attempting to promote such a drastic change in the way things have always been done should not be intimidating. Rather, it should be welcomed as a step into the future of patient care. Read the article here. |
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Developing Evidence-Based Interventions to Address the Leading Causes of Workers'
Compensation Among Healthcare Workers
Laboratory-based biomechanical studies have now identified safer ways to lift and move patients, such as removing the excessive forces and extreme postures that can occur when manually lifting residents. This collective assessment of the laboratory studies concluded that mechanical lifting equipment significantly reduces the biomechanical stresses that lead to musculoskeletal injuries among caregivers associated with patient lifting.
Read the article here. |
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Safe Patient Handling Tip Sheet
Breaking your back should not be a part of the job! Back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders are preventable with a safe patient handling and movement program. This American Nurses Association Tip Sheet is designed to help you institute a safe patient handling and movement program in your facility. You can access it here. |
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Recommendation for a hi-lo electric table in special education room |
| I am trying to convince the administration of one of my high schools that is putting in a new bathroom next to a Special Education classroom with 5 students in wheelchairs that we need an electric hi-lo mat table. Do you know of any references specifically advocating for that? |
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Lillian Bray
Knox County Schools |
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Are guidelines available for proper patient handling? |
| Do you have a kind of guideline of proper and safe transferring, lifting & moving bed pts? Is it possible to get PDF file with it? |
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Artur Potoczny
Poland |
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Self-transfer from wheelchair to bed |
| What would be an appropriate device that would allow a resident to self transfer from wheelchair to bed? The resident has bent two different trapeze bars that attach to the bed by pulling them sideways. We have looked at gantry systems but they are so expensive that the cost is prohibitive. |
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Perry Freeman
Christian Care Center of Cheatham County |
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Tracking mobility status in Electronic Medical Records systems |
| How have hospitals that have converted to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) included documentation of mobility status, and which pieces of equipment are used with the patient? Also, is there a standardized scale for grading patient mobility? |
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Catherine Gouvin
L&M 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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© 2011 Liko. All Rights Reserved
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