[NRSKarenRN]

From PA Nurses News:


The American Nurses Association Celebrates National Nurses Week with Congressional Briefing on Safe Patient Handling

Silver Spring, MD – In honor of National Nurses Week (May 6-12), the Congressional Nursing Caucus and the American Nurses Association (ANA) will sponsor a luncheon briefing on Tuesday, May 8th at 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Rayburn House Office Building, B-339/340, to highlight the importance of safe patient handling to congressional health staff.

Over the past decade, attention has been given to the health and safety concerns among health care workers. Despite the recognition that manual patient handling is a high-hazard task, the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders persist at high rates for nurses and other health care personnel.
“There isn’t enough lift equipment in the hospital, so injury is constant, cumulative and inevitable,” said Linda J. Stierle, MSN, RN, CNAA,BC, CEO of the American Nurses Association, and a retired U.S. Air Force general officer. “We believe the nation, now facing a serious nursing shortage can no longer afford the estimated 12 percent of RNs who leave the profession because of musculoskeletal injuries. ANA is committed to building critical consensus toward the introduction of viable federal legislation on safe patient handling that will eliminate manual lifting.”...