Other Titles
Exploring Interprofessional Teamwork
Abstract
Session presented on Saturday, March 18, 2017:
Work related musculoskeletal injuries among nurses are costly. As many as 20% of nurses who leave direct patient care do so because of risks associated with their work (OSHA, n.d.). Safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) programs can reduce risk to nurses. SPHM program has become one of the top initiatives for health care facilities to reduce caregiver injuries associated with the high-risk patient handling tasks (American Nurses Association, 2013). Healthcare workers are at risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and MSDs are responsible for a significant cost to health care institutions but it negatively impacts quality of care. According to OSHA news release inspections from complaints should include a review of hazards involving MSD related to patient handling (2015). In the fall of 2011 an interdisciplinary team was formed and charged by the organization to create a SPHM program. A new hospital tower was being built and each room would incorporate a patient ceiling lift and motor. After attending the SPHM National Conference, it was soon realized what was available in the organization was woefully inadequate. A formal infrastructure and enduring program needed to be created. State Law and American Nurses Association SPHM standards were used to guide and ensure all required elements were included. A SPHM interdisciplinary committee was established to help administer the program and continues to participate in the decision-making process. Interdisciplinary team evaluates both inpatient and outpatient units for patient handling needs and challenges, then makes recommendations on the type of equipment needed for the units unique needs. Nurses and other staff members are involved in equipment trials and evaluation. Formal policies and procedures were written. Education was created and delivered to all staff who move patients. The effectiveness of the program is measured in reduction of injures and cost of injuries to the organization. Number of staff injuries have been reduced every year and the costs to organization related to those injuries were also reduced. In 2012 the hospital experienced 24 staff injuries related to patient handling, and in 2015 there were 4 reported injuries. Lost time work days were zero in 2015. If an injury does occur it is evaluated for the root cause contributing to incident. The root cause identified is then addressed. An annual report about program is submitted to hospital administration. Learning Objectives: The learner will be able to identify the risk for musculoskeletal injuries faced by healthcare workers. The learner will be able to analyze the key components of a safe patient handling and mobility program.
Sigma Membership
Delta Kappa
Lead Author Affiliation
Midland Memorial Hospital, Midland, Texas, USA
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Safe Patient Handling Mobility, Interprofessional Teamwork, Safety
Recommended Citation
Powers, Rebekah and Ramdeo, Christina, "Keeping nurses safe: Creation of a safe patient handling and mobility program" (2017). Creating Healthy Work Environments Event Materials. 61.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2017/presentations_2017/61
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments 2017
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2017
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Keeping nurses safe: Creation of a safe patient handling and mobility program
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Session presented on Saturday, March 18, 2017:
Work related musculoskeletal injuries among nurses are costly. As many as 20% of nurses who leave direct patient care do so because of risks associated with their work (OSHA, n.d.). Safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) programs can reduce risk to nurses. SPHM program has become one of the top initiatives for health care facilities to reduce caregiver injuries associated with the high-risk patient handling tasks (American Nurses Association, 2013). Healthcare workers are at risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and MSDs are responsible for a significant cost to health care institutions but it negatively impacts quality of care. According to OSHA news release inspections from complaints should include a review of hazards involving MSD related to patient handling (2015). In the fall of 2011 an interdisciplinary team was formed and charged by the organization to create a SPHM program. A new hospital tower was being built and each room would incorporate a patient ceiling lift and motor. After attending the SPHM National Conference, it was soon realized what was available in the organization was woefully inadequate. A formal infrastructure and enduring program needed to be created. State Law and American Nurses Association SPHM standards were used to guide and ensure all required elements were included. A SPHM interdisciplinary committee was established to help administer the program and continues to participate in the decision-making process. Interdisciplinary team evaluates both inpatient and outpatient units for patient handling needs and challenges, then makes recommendations on the type of equipment needed for the units unique needs. Nurses and other staff members are involved in equipment trials and evaluation. Formal policies and procedures were written. Education was created and delivered to all staff who move patients. The effectiveness of the program is measured in reduction of injures and cost of injuries to the organization. Number of staff injuries have been reduced every year and the costs to organization related to those injuries were also reduced. In 2012 the hospital experienced 24 staff injuries related to patient handling, and in 2015 there were 4 reported injuries. Lost time work days were zero in 2015. If an injury does occur it is evaluated for the root cause contributing to incident. The root cause identified is then addressed. An annual report about program is submitted to hospital administration. Learning Objectives: The learner will be able to identify the risk for musculoskeletal injuries faced by healthcare workers. The learner will be able to analyze the key components of a safe patient handling and mobility program.