Enhancing Patient Outcomes

Introduction

It’s important to understand the relationship between safe patient handling and enhanced patient outcomes, including how earlier mobilization may well have a positive impact on numerous recurrent healthcare problems…(read more)

While the primary mission of the Safe Lifting Portal is to advocate in favor of caregiver injury prevention, it’s also important to understand that safer patient handling and earlier mobilization may well have a positive impact on patient outcomes, including factors such as skin integrity, respiratory health, and avoidance of falls, bruising, dislocated joints, or other patient injuries typically encountered during manual repositioning. “Assistive equipment and devices provide a more secure process for lifting, transferring, or repositioning tasks reducing the potential for patient injury (i.e., falls, skin tears, shoulder dislocations) as a consequence of a manual patient handling mishap. Patients are less subjected to awkward or forceful handling potentially experienced when lifting, transferring, or repositioning is done manually. Moreover, any anxiety patients may feel with having a person (susceptible to injury) perform the task can be relieved and increase confidence with the use of assistive mechanical equipment.”²(back)

Hot Topics

To assist you in evaluating the available information on safe patient handling and its impact on patient outcomes, we’ve grouped topics into the following categories, with additional categories to be added in the future.

• Falls Prevention and Improved Balance
• Respiratory Health and Conditioning
• Skin Integrity and Protection

Background

Even though there are very few studies documenting the effects of safe patient handling on the patient or resident, some evidence based research does exist…(read more)

While few studies exist documenting a strong relationship between safe patient handling and enhanced patient outcomes, many healthcare professionals believe frequent repositioning in bed is important for comfort, safety and quality of care. Note, however, that some research does exist. For example, Metzler, 1996, reported that when a resident is immobilized for any reason and spends extended periods of the day in bed, frequent and proper position changes can be beneficial. This same research has shown that immobility can adversely affect all body systems. For example, immobility decreases gastrointestinal and genitourinary activity, putting residents at risk for constipation, fluid retention, and urinary stasis. It can also result in diminished muscle tone, overall weakness, fatigue, and venous stasis, which may lead to thrombophlebitis, pulmonary embolism, or reduced peripheral perfusion. Reduced peripheral perfusion, in turn, has been shown to contribute to breakdown of the resident’s skin, particularly over bony prominences.(back)

NIOSH Initiative

NIOSH has begun to link health care worker safety to better outcomes for patients, including enhancements to nursing school curricula…(read more)

NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is attempting to focus attention on hazards within the Health Care and Social Assistance sectors through its National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). “Everybody thinks health care is a safe environment because you’re taking care of people, but health care [workers] face many of the hazards that people face in industrial settings,” comments Teri Palermo, RN, public health adviser and coordinator for the Health Care and Social Assistance sector at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV. Specifically, NIOSH is promoting safe patient handling as a part of the curriculum in nursing schools and seeks to link health care worker safety to better outcomes for patients. “For example, safe patient handling may mean fewer skin tears and less risk of dropping patients,” says Palermo.(back)

1. AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE ASSOCIATION, SAFE HANDLING OF PATIENTS AND RESIDENTS, Position Statement - Adopted June 30, 2009
   
   
2. de Castro, A.B., PhD, MSN, MPH, RN, Handle With Care®: The American Nurses Association’s Campaign to Address Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
   
   
3. ibid.
   
   
4. DuBose, Jan RN and Donahue, Terry, BSN, RN, COHN-S/CM, Taking the pain out of patient handling, American Nurse Today, December 2006 Vol. 1 Num. 3
Health care tops in injuries on the job.