A Review of Patient Lifting Interventions to Reduce Health Care Worker Injuries. (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aslam, Imran; Davis, Scott A.; Feldman, Steven R.; Martin, Willis E.
• Is Part Of: Workplace health & safety. Volume 63:Number 6(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 267
• Page End: 275
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: safe patient handling -- musculoskeletal injury -- back injury -- lift devices -- occupational health -- nursing -- education; Industrial nursing -- Periodicals; 610.734605
• DOI: 10.1177/2165079915580038
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2165-0799

Abstract

Health care workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders at a significantly higher rate than workers in other industries. Consequently, a growing demand for patient handling devices to reduce worker injury has evolved. This article reviews the literature regarding interventions designed to reduce injuries among health care workers. A PubMed search was conducted using the terms "occupational health [Mesh Terms] patient lifting." Fourteen articles were identified that assessed interventions to improve worker safety. Of the 14 articles, 7 discussed technological interventions, 4 educational approaches, and 3 policy change. All three types of interventions were generally effective at improving worker safety, with the ideal intervention consisting of elements of all three types. Although adopting a new intervention may be expensive, the reduction in workers' compensation costs associated with injured nurses can easily outweigh the costs of interventions.