Safe Patient Handling and Movement

Book excerpt: Did you know that an estimated 12% of nurses leave the profession annually because of back injuries and that over half of RNs complain of chronic back pain? This book presents best practices in safe patient handling and movement. Nurse and hospital administrators, clinicians, clinical managers, risk managers, and those involved in procurement and implementation of patient handling technologies in the health care environment will find this a practical resource for improving care and protecting staff from unnecessary injury. You will come away from reading this book with information that you can employ in a variety of work environments--hospitals, nursing homes, home care, and other health care organizations--whatever your practice setting may be. Caregiver safety approaches include: Evidence-based standards for safe patient movement and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries An overview of available equipment and technology Architectural designs for ergonomically safe patient care space Institutional policies, such as use of lift teams