Position Statement on Elimination of Manual Patient Handling to Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

Alabama Nurse,  Dec 2003-Feb 2004  

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Employee Participation

Employee participation is vital for the success of workplace health and saiety interventions. Frontline staff nurse employees should be motivated and supports to be involved in the development and implementation of efforts to restrict manual patient handling. Staff can provide essential information about organization-specific hazards associated with patient handling and can help guide actions to ensure effectiveness. Staff must also hold decision-making authority in the evaluation and selection of patient handling devices and equipment. Further, initial and ongoing training in the assessment of case-specific patient handling as well as the use of devices and equipment is necessary.

Regulation and Enforcement

ANA has campaigned and continues the call for a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard to control ergonomic hazards in the workplace for the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. A regulation that includes stipulations requiring healthcare settings to use engineering controls (i.e., assistive lift and transfer equipment) for parient handling tasks would lead to the elimination of total manual patient handling. In the absence of a national standard, ANA also supports efforts undertaken at the state level to enact ergonomic legislation, Regulation and enforcement are necessary components of the overall effort to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Research

ANA seeks the commitment and consultation of the scientific community in the ongoing development of interventions dedicated to the prevention of rnusculoskcletul disorders related to patient handling. The knowledge base and research, evidence describing methods of sale patient handling, particularly the use of assistive equipment, continues to expand. The prompt communication of emerging study findings is fundamental for their timely incorporation into professional practice and education of student nurses.

Conclusion

ANA believes that manual patient handling is unsafe and is directly responsible for musculoskeletal disorders suffered by nurses. Patient handling can be performed safely with the use of assistive equipment and devices that serve as engineering controls for ergonomic hazards. The benefit of assistive patient handling equipment is characterized by the simultaneous reduction of the risk of injury for nursing staff and improvement in the quality of care for patient populations.

References

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (1997). Elements of Ergonomics Programs. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 97-117. Cincinnati, OH.

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2001). Musculoskeletal disorders and the workplace low back and upper extremities. National Academy of Sciences. Washington, DC: National Academy Press

Smedley J, Egger P, Cooper C & Coggon D. (q995) Manual handling activities and risk of low back pain in nurses. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 52(3), 160-3.

Trinkoff, A.M., Lipscomb, J.A., Geiger-Brown, J., & Brady, B. (2002) Musculoskeletal problems of the neck, shoulder, and back and functional consequences in nurses. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 41(3), 170-178.