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something's wrong."
"By the time a nurse says, 'Oh, my back!' and reaches to grab where it hurts," says Ms. Harrington, "that's usually the final straw of something that's been cumulative all along."
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SAFE LIFT Overhead ceiling lifts can be pricey, but does your bottom line value safety?
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It's not just nurses who feel the pain of poor patient handling, she adds. Patients are put at greater risk of falls, positioning injuries and loss of dignity, while facilities are hit with the direct and indirect costs of employee and patient injuries, staff absences and lost productivity, and patients' dissatisfaction and potential litigation.
For frontline staff, the advice is clear: Don't go it alone. Granted, surgery is a time-sensitive business, and surgical employees are ingrained with a drive to get things done as quickly as possible and a pride in stoically bearing through pain, says Ms. Fritz. But by no means should they put themselves at risk while delivering care to patients. When faced with a patient handling situation, injuring themselves is hardly an efficient solution. "First, stop and think," she urges. "What else could you do here?"
Adopt a policy on proper patient handling practices that sends a clear signal of support for employee safety.
