Title: Safe Patient Handling/Moving
1. Problem/Challenge/Need Description

Nonfatal occupational injury and illness rates in healthcare institutions tend to be relatively high. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) continue to be a major injury source for healthcare workers in the realm of patient handling. As a matter of fact, some of those most affected include, but they are not limited to, nursing aides, attendants, as well as orderlies. To bring this concern into perspective, it is important to note that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC (2013), the incident rate of MSDs amongst healthcare workers happens to be one of the highest across all industries. In essence, in the year 2010, “there were 27,020 cases, which equates to an incidence rate (IR) of 249 per 10,000 workers, more than seven times the average for all industries” (United States Department of Labor, 2019). Construction laborers had a rate of 85.0. With this in mind, the relevance of reigning in this concern cannot be overstated.

Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in healthcare institutions come at a significant cost. Some of these will be highlighted below:

Days away from work: When healthcare workers suffer MSDs, they are likely to seek absence on grounds of sickness. This is more so the case given that MSDs could present as pain in various body joints, numbness in fingers and hands, joint stiffness, inflammation, swelling, etc. (Gallaghler, 2013). These are serious symptoms that could render healthcare workers incapable of performing their roles. In some instances, the recovery period could be quite long.

Decline in the quality of care advanced to patients: Illnesses and injuries affect the productivity of healthcare workers. In turn, this affects the standard of care advanced to patients - and hence patient outcomes.

Higher employee turnover: Healthcare workers could opt to leave or abandon the healthcare profession as a consequence of sustained injuries in the course of executing their mandate. This also happens to be the case in those instances whereby MSDs result in a long-term disability. There are other numerous downsides of MSDs. These will not be highlighted in this context.

2. An Assessment of Risk Factors

In seeking to develop a definitive safe patient handling framework, it would be prudent to highlight some of the risk factors that are in one way or another linked to patient handling. These include, but they are not limited to, lack of equipment for safe patient handling (effectively meaning that healthcare workers have to engage in the manual lifting of patients), repetitive lifting tasks, and space limitations. When it comes to lack of lifting equipment, it should be noted that in essence, patients do not have handles. For this reason, with no access to the appropriate lifting gear, healthcare workers are prone strain as they engage in lifting, pulling, as well as pushing tasks. The situation...…it is important to note that evidence-based standards for the safe handling of patients will be utilized throughout this entire undertaking. Other considerations that suffice are inclusive of:

1.1. In seeking to create a culture of safe patient handing, the relevance of ensuring an enabling environment cannot be overstated. This is particularly the case when it comes to the establishment of an environment that favors collaboration and effective communication. Towards this end, it should be noted that the creation of a culture of safe patient handling is largely a collaborative effort and calls for excellent coordination of efforts.

1.2. Encouraging continuous learning: Continuous learning enables all kinds of organizations to improve their processes and find solutions to emerging concerns. The need for a continuous improvement approach in this case has been identified. This will be the only way to ensure long-term success of the present undertaking.

1.3. Periodic Evaluation: The relevance of periodic evaluations cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given the need to assess whether or not there are any meaningful improvements and in those instances where there are none, identify the key concerns so that corrective action can be undertaken. One of the ways of evaluating the success of this particular undertaking is an assessment of staff injuries prior to the implementation of a patient handling policy, an thereafter.

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