Are Your Nurses an Endangered Species?

Nursing is by far the most dangerous of all occupations in regards to work-related musculoskeletal injuries. Crothall Services Group's comprehensive "Safe Patient Handling" program can help reduce nursing injuries, increase patient satisfaction and safety, and improve nursing retention.

It isn't news to hospital administrators that recruiting and keeping a highly skilled nursing staff is one the biggest challenges facing healthcare institutions in the United States today.As the demand for nurses continues to grow, it is imperative to ensure a safe environment for them. How does one go about creating such an environment, given that one of the main reasons for people leaving the profession is work-related injury? Let's face it; patient handling is the leading cause of injury among nurses. It is a physically demanding requirement of the job, is compounded by the size, mobility, and cognition of the patient, and is highly situational in nature. And it isn't going to go away.

Zero Lift Policies

Savvy hospital and nursing home administrators are instituting "Zero Lift Policies," intended to remove physical patient handling responsibilities from the nursing staff for the majority of patient care situations.To comply with current and pending legislation in several states, policy is designed to require the use of lifting devices and other ergonomic support systems when attempting to move a patient in a clinical setting. Zero Lift policies do not reduce the interaction nurses have with their patients; they ensure that nurses can focus more directly on clinical responsibilities.

An Evidence Based Solution

Lift Teams are typically comprised of two specially trained individuals who work together to perform most patient lifting, transferring, and positioning tasks. The goal of the team is to reduce nurses' critical risk factors by assuming responsibility for the majority of patient handling needs, thus ensuring that nurses do not perform uncoordinated lifts,which risk injury to themselves and the patient.

An important and often unaddressed piece of the patient handling puzzle occurs outside the patient room.Walking Partners are specially trained staff members who ambulate medically stable patients on the unit.Although walking helps expedite the healing process, it can be time consuming, and is one of the top 5 causes of nursing injury. By transferring this role from nurses to non-clinical staff, this valuable service can be performed in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

A Comprehensive Solution

Crothall Services Group is among the first organizations in the nation to offer Lift Teams in conjunction with Patient Transportation and Walking Partners programs. Taken together, this comprehensive solution addresses areas of risk to nurses through all stages of patient handling: positioning, transportation, and ambulation. Crothall associates are trained both to meet CDC safety standards, as well as the specific methodology of each hospital or nursing home environment."We approach each program as unique, as each of our clients is unique.We have developed more than 170 standards and protocols, as well as an extensive training program to ensure these programs operate more effectively," says Diane McCullough, National Director of Patient Transportation for Crothall Services Group.

Most hospitals want to accomplish one or more common objectives related to Patient Transportation, including:

"Our program supports our clients' efforts to be more efficient. Crothall provides the right people, coupled with customized training and competitive labor costs that effectively relieve nursing staffs of some of their nonclinical responsibilities. We have implemented lift teams to help reduce injuries and reduce the investment in lifting equipment which often goes unused," says McCullough.