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ANA State Goverment Affairs
Safe Patient Movement and Handling Background Safe patient movement and handling benefits patients. The potential for patient injury (such as falls and skin tears) as a consequence of a manual handling mishap is reduced by using assistive equipment and devices. Equipment and devices provide a more secure process for lifting, transferring or repositioning patients. Patients are afforded a safer means to progress through their care, have less anxiety, are more comfortable and maintain their dignity and privacy. Assistive patient-handling equipment can be selected to match a patient's ability to assist in his or her own movement, thereby promoting patient autonomy and rehabilitation. Safe patient movement and handling benefits the nursing workforce . Patient handing tasks are recognized as the primary cause for musculoskeletal disorders among the nursing workforce. A variety of patient handling tasks exist within the context of nursing care, such as lifting, transferring, and repositioning patients, and are typically performed manually. Continuous, repeated performance of these activities throughout a nurse's working lifetime results in the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Of primary concern are back injuries and shoulder strains, which can both be severely debilitating for nurses. Compared to other occupations, nursing personnel are among the highest at risk for musculoskeletal disorders. According to the Bureau of labor Statistics (2004), nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants ranked second and RNs ninth in a list of at-risk occupations for strains and sprains that included truck drivers (third and fourth), laborers (first), stock handlers and baggers (sixth), and construction workers (eighth). Studies of back related worker's compensation claims reveal that nursing personnel have the highest claim rates of any occupation or industry. The extent of musculoskeletal disorders among the U.S. nursing workforce is particularly distressing when considered in the context of the current nursing shortage. It is estimated that 12% of nurses leave the profession annually due to back injuries and greater than 52% complain of chronic back pain. Specifically, injuries secondary to patient handling tasks compound factors driving the shortage such as the aging of the nursing workforce, declining retention and recruitment rates, and the lowering social value of nursing. As part of the American Nurses Association's (ANA's) Nationwide State Legislative Agenda, ANA and its State Nurses Association's are promoting legislation that would require hospitals and other health care institutions to develop programs to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and eliminate manual patient handling. Activities/Actions As of 2006 year end, two states have enacted safe patient movement and handing legislation and one state enacted a House Concurrent Resolution. RI legislation requires hospitals and nursing facilities to establish a safe patient handling committee which will be chaired by a professional nurse or other appropriate licensed health care professional. At least half of the members of the committee will be non-managerial employees who provide direct patient care. The committee will provide input into the development of a written safe patient handling program in each facility, conduct a handling hazard assessment, train all clinical staff on safe patient handling policies and annually evaluate the program. WA legislation will promote safe patient handling and reduce injuries among health care workers by establishing a Safe Patient Handling Committee (with at least half of the committee comprised of direct care providers) and implement a safe patient handling policy to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among health care workers and injuries to patients. The law also mandates hospitals to acquire the much needed lifting equipment and provide staff training. The hospital will receive a tax credit when purchasing the lifting equipment. HI passed a House Concurrent Resolution calling for the Legislature of the State of Hawaii to support the policies contained in the American Nurses Association's Handle With Care campaign. In 2005, three states enacted safe patient movement and handling legislation. NY legislation will fund a safe patient handling demonstration program. The bill authorizes a two year study to establish safe patient handling programs throughout the state to build upon existing evidence-based data, with the ultimate goal of designing a "best" practice for safe patient handling in New York State health care facilities. The bill also establishes specifications for safe patient handling programs. Enacted OH legislation requires the Administrator of Workers' Compensation to use funds in the Long-Term Care Loan Fund to make loans without interest to nursing home employers to pay for specified equipment and training for employers to implement a policy of no manual lifting of residents by employees. egislation enacted in TX requires the governing body of a hospital or the quality assurance committee of a nursing home to adopt and ensure implementation of a policy to identify, assess, and develop strategies to control risk of injury to patients and nurses associated with the lifting, transferring, repositioning, or movement of a patient. In 1996, CA enacted an ergonomics regulation referring to repetitive motion injuries. This rule requires the consideration of engineering controls to minimize exposures that cause repetitive motion injuries. In 2003, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to create an Advisory Committee to study a proposal for a revised ergonomics standard that would require employers to identify ergonomics hazards as part of their Injury and Illness Prevention Program.
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ANA State Information for 
