Decreasing Injury among Nursing Staff
Decreasing Injury among Nursing Staff
Skeletal injuries among nursing staff have been steadily rising in the hospital, especially with the elevating weight problem in North Carolina. Nursing is the number one profession receiving workers' compensation. Injury data has shown that 17 out of 100 nurses are reporting work-related injuries ("Bill," 2006, p. 5). These injuries have costly implications for insurers, health care providers, and hospitals while driving nurses away from the bedside.
In the past two years Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA) has implemented a plan that would require Massachusetts hospitals to provide a system to assist nurses with safe patient handling in order to avoid injury ("MNA," 2006, p.14). Each facility will have a written organization-wide safe lifting and handling plain containing the following: policy and procedures describing safe patient handling and lifting philosophy and approach; procedures; equipment type, numbers and location; mechanism for addressing nurses' refusal to perform unsafe lifting and handling; and education and training programs conducted or utilized at the facility by qualified personnel ("MNA," 2006, p.14).
The major goal of our hospital is to provide patients with high levels of care while protecting the hospitals employees from bodily harm. Research has shown nursing staff have suffered the stress and bodily pain accompanied with their duty to provide top care to patients ("MNA," 2006, p.14). Offering movement technique classes, installation of lift equipment and implementing a plan similar to the Massachusetts Nursing Association will contribute to lowing musculoskeletal injuries
Methods
NCLive
The database ava ...