Nurses will testify before Massachusetts' Joint Committee on Public Health Oct. 29 in favor of legislation to improve patient handling practices in healthcare facilities.
Hospital staff in Massachusetts suffer severe patient handling injuries at a 70 percent higher rate than staff in other states, according to a 2014 health department survey of 88 Massachusetts hospitals. About 1,000 Massachusetts healthcare workers missed work because of patient handling injuries in 2010 alone, totaling 59 years of time off. However, less than half of hospitals (44 percent) had a written safe patient handling program in place.
"There is no reason for using 19th century patient handling protocols in 21st century hospitals," Donna Kelly-Williams, RN, president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said in a news release. "Every day that we do not take action to reduce these preventable injuries, more healthcare workers and patients are getting hurt and more costly workers compensation claims are being filed."
The proposed bill would require healthcare facilities to establish a committee to design and implement a safe patient handling program to control risk of injury tied to lifting, transferring or repositioning a patient or equipment. The legislation would also require facilities to obtain any equipment deemed necessary by its safe patient handling committee in efforts to improve patient recovery and employee safety.