[oramar]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07340/839705-100.stm

[snowfreeze]

OK so what really happened here? Was there no spotter? Did maintenance ignore problems with this lift? Did the patient simply freak out and dive out of the lift?

[oramar]

Originally Posted by snowfreeze

OK so what really happened here? Was there no spotter? Did maintenance ignore problems with this lift? Did the patient simply freak out and dive out of the lift?

I was thinking the same thing. If they would let people know more details then we would know what precautions to take.

[crissrn27]

Wish we knew the details. I hope this will not make families leery of lifts, they save many a injury to staff.

[Plagueis]

I would also like to know more about this story. I have seen residents nearly fall out of lifts because the resident didn't like the lift, and they were trying to get out (i.e. flailing and wiggling), despite a company rep claiming that a resident would not be able to climb out of a mechanical lift.

[ktwlpn]

I went to the "nursing home compare" site and read the latest inspection results from this place.They have got alot of problems.They'll post the results of the investigation surrounding this incident in the future-I'll keep an eye on it...

[caliotter3]

I almost was ready to strangle to death a fellow CNA who left a very large and helpless lady dangling in midair in a lift while he ran out of the room looking for me to help him do his work that he was not up to. I told him how much of a safety hazard he was placing upon the poor resident and after dealing with him for a good portion of the shift, finally complained to the charge nurse. She talked to him and suddenly he just "had to leave work early". I ended up finishing his residents as well as my own. Actually, he had only taken care of two residents, one of them being the lady he endangered. I was better off working alone that night. I mean, really, how distracted do you have to be to leave a large person who is not with it, dangling in midair in the lift? She was not even over the bed, where any fall could have been broken by the bed. That CNA quit soon thereafter. Not cut out for the job.

[bethin]

Originally Posted by caliotter3

I almost was ready to strangle to death a fellow CNA who left a very large and helpless lady dangling in midair in a lift while he ran out of the room looking for me to help him do his work that he was not up to.

I float to our hospital's in house LTCF. We use lifts that I am not familiar with as we don't have any on med surg. I asked for help with one, the DON explained it to me and said "you can do it by yourself". I didn't. I refuse to use a lift by myself. I just don't have enough hands to steer, move their legs so they don't get jammed into something and hold them in the sling as their wiggling.

I would love to hear why this happened. Machine malfunction or human error?

[nightmare]

We use lifts/hoists all the time.Our risk assessment for these states that they are not to be used by one member of staff.As previous poster said you just can't control everything yourself.We find moving these hoists even on vinyl flooring very heavy and definitely a risk to your back,in fact,more staff are complaining about shoulder and upper arm pain using them.That said we would not be without them!!If you have a completely complaint, very with-it person on the hoist(not a thing you find often in a nursing home!)It is possible to do it with one but even then it is frowned on by health and safety.

[NNx3_07]

Hello to all, This is my first post, after reading many helpful posts previously. I am a new grad and was reading this with my mouth hanging open and being thankful that I had no mishaps. I was instructed to use a mechanical lift during my 1st semester & VERY FIRST clinical rotation at a LTC facility BY MYSELF. Who knew I was supposed to have someone assisting, I was just shown how to operate it and left to do it on my own, week after week.