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Pulse
Armstrong Atlantic students handling patients with care
Most people don't think of nursing homes and hospitals as dangerous places to work. Nurses know better.
About a third of the nursing population suffers from some kind of musculoskeletal disorder (mostly back injuries) because of the need to lift, transfer and reposition patients. When the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked at-risk occupations for strains and sprains in 2000, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants ranked second, and nurses ranked sixth. That's not good news for a profession already plagued by an aging work force and major shortages.
Compounded by an older, sicker and heavier patient population, it's a crisis that the American Nurses Association knew it needed to meet head on. In 2003, the organization launched the Handle With Care campaign to build an industrywide effort to prevent back and other musculoskeletal injuries through collaboration, education and lobbying Congress to establish stronger ergonomic protection for nurses and allied health care workers.
"Studies of back-related workers compensation claims reveal that nursing personnel have the highest claim rates of any occupation or industry," said ANA President Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN, BC, ANP. "In addition, other estimates report that 12 percent of nurses leave the profession annually as a result of back injuries, and more than 52 percent complain of chronic back pain."
Maintaining that the manual lifting hurts nurses and patients, the campaign's goal is to establish a nationwide "no-lifting policy," similar to ones already in place in England, Australia and other countries.
Faculty and students at Armstrong Atlantic State University are among the first to gather data for the campaign. The ANA chose the Savannah institution as one of 22 pilot sites to test a new nursing school curriculum for safe-patient handling developed in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. It's the only test site in Georgia.
"When I read about the new curriculum proposal and research, I knew that Armstrong Atlantic would be a great test site, not only because of our 250-student nursing program, but because we offer so many other allied health programs," said associate professor Helen M. Taggart, RN, DSN, CNS. "I was thrilled when we received the grant. Our nursing students feel really special to be among the first to go through the program."
Using equipment and trainers borrowed from Guildman Equipment Co. and Hover Mat, nursing students have learned how to use mechanical ceiling lifts, sit-to-stand lifts, chair lifts and in¨atable hover mats, as part of the new patient-handling guidelines.
"Nurses need to know that this kind of equipment is out there and that it can help take the risk out of moving patients," said Gaye Cook, MSN, APRN, assistant professor at AASU. "We've had 250-pound guys bet our nursing students that they can't move them with a hover mat, and they're amazed by how easy it is.
"Using the equipment, one nurse, instead of two or three, can safely lift a patient, clean them and the bed. That directly affects nursing time-management issues, which are critical during a shortage."
Taggart has been amazed by the new techniques' appeal to registered nurses returning to school to earn their bachelor's degrees, dental hygienists, physical therapists, radiologists and nursing aides.
"You don't think about it, but dental hygienists have to transfer wheelchair patients, and radiologists lift and transfer people all the time," Taggart said. "We recently held a community demonstration and a retirement community sent 13 members of their staff."
