Moving patients might seem routine, but one wrong move can land you in a world of pain. Healthcare workers are at high risk for musculoskeletal injuries, and bad lifting techniques don\u2019t just hurt you, they can hurt your patients too.<\/p>\n
Muscle strains, back injuries, and sprains are all too common in healthcare. With an aging population and more bariatric patients, the physical demands on caregivers continue to rise.<\/p>\n
Some patient transfers push your body past its limits. Beware of situations that involve:<\/p>\n
Pro Tip:<\/b> If you have to strain, it\u2019s time to use equipment or call for help.<\/p>\nForget brute force, technique is everything when moving patients.<\/h2>\n
The golden rules of manual transfers<\/h3>\n
When mechanical lifts aren\u2019t an option, these principles can help prevent injuries:<\/p>\n
Reality: Body mechanics help, but they\u2019re not enough. Mechanical lifting devices are the real injury-prevention game-changer.<\/p>\n
Reality: A trained team can set up and use a lift in under five minutes. That\u2019s less time than it takes to fill out an injury report.<\/p>\n
Reality: The cost of one serious back injury far outweighs the price of safe patient-handling equipment.<\/p>\n
Look at injury reports, patient weights, and job tasks to pinpoint high-risk areas. Consider:<\/p>\n
The right equipment makes a world of difference. Must-haves include:<\/p>\n
Even the best equipment is useless without proper training. Make sure your team knows:<\/p>\n
Pro Tip:<\/b> Track injury rates and equipment used to measure success and tweak your SPH program as needed.<\/p>\nSmart transfers start with understanding movement algorithms.<\/h2>\n
What are patient movement algorithms?<\/h3>\n
These step-by-step guides help caregivers decide the safest way to transfer a patient. Key considerations include:<\/p>\n
Pro Tip:<\/b> If a patient weighs more than 35 pounds and can\u2019t assist, always use a lift.<\/p>\nExpand your knowledge with our Patient Care Training: Techniques for Safe Patient Transfers course.<\/h2>\n
This course covers the basics of safe patient handling, but there\u2019s more to learn. For an in-depth understanding of SPH programs and transfer techniques, enroll in our Patient Care Training: Techniques for Safe Patient Transfers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Handle with care, because lifting patients isn\u2019t just about strength, it\u2019s about strategy. Moving patients might seem routine, but one wrong move can land you in a world of pain. Healthcare workers are at high risk for musculoskeletal injuries, and bad lifting techniques don\u2019t just hurt you, they can hurt your patients too. Every patient …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4427,4058,217],"tags":[4432,1249,4430,4435,4436,4431,4429,4433,4428,4434],"class_list":["post-60013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musculoskeletal-disorders","category-workplace-safety","category-original-infographics","tag-ergonomic-patient-care","tag-healthcare-worker-safety","tag-msd-prevention-in-healthcare","tag-osha-patient-handling","tag-patient-transfer-algorithms","tag-patient-transfer-techniques","tag-preventing-musculoskeletal-disorders","tag-safe-lifting-equipment","tag-safe-patient-handling","tag-sph-programs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60013"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63349,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60013\/revisions\/63349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nReferences<\/b><\/h3>\n
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