by
Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor | September 08, 2010
The abolitionists
The evidence for lifts - and the evidence against manual lifting - has led some nurses groups to turn to legislation. Many are pushing for the complete abolition of manual lifting at health care centers through federal laws requiring hospitals or nursing homes to install automated patient lifts
Other countries already have "no-lift" or "minimal lift" policies, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. And the nurses groups are hoping to bring them stateside. In 2009, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2009 (S. 1788) into the Senate, while a companion bill, H.R. 2381, was introduced into the House of Representatives. Both bills are currently working through committee.
Ad Statistics
Times Displayed: 19605
Times Visited: 366 Stay up to date with the latest training to fix, troubleshoot, and maintain your critical care devices. GE HealthCare offers multiple training formats to empower teams and expand knowledge, saving you time and money
Nine states currently have safe patient handling legislation in place, and about 10 are considering passing such laws, although most of these are laxer than the proposed federal ones. In general, the state laws simply encourage safety workgroups or the purchase of equipment: they seldom forbid manual lifting outright.
This difference between promoting no-lift policies and absolutely forbidding manual handling is key, says the American Hospital Association, which opposes the bill wending its way through the Senate.
Sabina II from
Liko, a Hill-Rom company
"We oppose any federal mandate to require certain types of devices," says Carla Luggiero, senior associate director of federal relations, American Hospital Association.
According to Luggiero, a former nurse, the Senate bill would ultimately result in the abolition of manual lifting except in cases where this would compromise patient care. She thinks this is an "unreasonable standard" that doesn't admit the flexibility required in health care. For instance, it doesn't make exceptions for infants or pediatric patients, many of whom could safely be lifted by a nurse.
"There are always going to be those cases where you'll need four or five staff members to manually lift someone. Maybe someone has fainted on the floor. You're not going to be waiting for a lift to come down [to put them] on the gurney."
Hospital construction issues
