As America's obesity rates rise, healthcare facilities are evolving with sturdier medical equipment and heavier-duty hospital beds have been developed, but lifts are still an issue, according to an article on the International Business Times website.
Lifting and moving patients are not easy tasks. Even turning a 100-pound patient on her side puts about 1,000 pounds of pressure on the mover’s back, said former nurse Elizabeth White, who has started a company that sells a machine called ErgoNurse that lifts and moves patients in hospital beds.
In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said hospital workers had twice the average rate of on-the-job injuries from overexerting themselves, citing lifting, moving and repositioning patients as the top risk factor.
To date, 11 states have instituted Safe Patient Handling laws, which call for healthcare facilities to have patient lifting equipment and training to use it. Massachusetts, whose public health department attributes at least 21,500 days, or nearly 59 years, of lost work every year to patient-lifting injuries, is currently considering such legislation. Experts also pointed out these laws benefit patients by preventing injuries and preserving dignity.
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