Weight Lifting RN's

[Bo Shoi Ming]

I was checking the job requirements about a month ago for RN positions at a local hospital here in Austin.

They have an opening for an RN with the ability to lift 100#

Guess I better start working out at the gym more frequently.

By the way, the position is still open this morning.

Bo

[mcknis]

while reading these posts there is a fat loss ad at the bottom of my page. LOL!!!

[WorkinTheStreets]

You think I should risk personal injury to avoid not being labeled not one of the team and lifting 100#? Have you ever had a back injury or cuff rotator surgery? Bo

Don't take it personal...I was making a general statement. And yes, I have disc/back issues at L3-L4-L5. I work EMS and often carry heavy pts down stairs, up stairs and from cot to bed with just me and a partner...if they are big pts, we just get more help. I have experienced some nurses and EMT's hiding instead of helping. I have seen EMT's get fired for refusing to move pts for fear of getting hurt. The job is all about team work...whether we are moving a pt or just ordering lunch.

[Bo Shoi Ming]

There is a twenty something 1000# woman (that's right a half ton) on trial here in Texas for murdering a 2 yr old. She won't fit through the jail door and is too wide for the county court house doors.

County officials are actually considering building a new jail with doors wide enough for her. Cost is in the tens of thousands of dollars. I'd suggest a better deal would be to pay for her diet and force her to stick with it until she can fit through the existing doors.

She's under house arrest with a ankle braclet to keep track of her.

Bo

Don't take it personal...I was making a general statement. And yes, I have disc/back issues at L3-L4-L5. I work EMS and often carry heavy pts down stairs, up stairs and from cot to bed with just me and a partner...if they are big pts, we just get more help. I have experienced some nurses and EMT's hiding instead of helping. I have seen EMT's get fired for refusing to move pts for fear of getting hurt. The job is all about team work...whether we are moving a pt or just ordering lunch.

[ImMrBill3, RN]

Aren't there OSHA regs stating that lifting over 50#s is likely to cause injury?

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

I recently read that 80% of nurses have had at least one back injury. (I've had four).

Nursing is hard physical work, and there is sometimes no one available to help.

It is not always possible to use correct body mechanics, either.

[lumberjack]

Hah, I laugh just imagining half the nurses in my hospital trying to lift 100#. No way many (most?) could do it. They are big on mechanical lifts and assists here. Nursing/workers comp costs way too much for them to risk injury. After all, even before the ABCs comes scene safety. Ya can't help others if you become a victim first.

[Bo Shoi Ming]

Well if the nurses can't pass the 100# clean and jerk in the weight lifting requirements for nurses they could get a job in construction.

A jack hammer only weigh 95#.

Bo Shoi Ming

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

I recently read that 80% of nurses have had at least one back injury. (I've had four).

Nursing is hard physical work, and there is sometimes no one available to help.

It is not always possible to use correct body mechanics, either.

well... I actually am 'pro' lift equipment - otherwise its only a matter of time before injury occurs and the burden is on the nurse or if the client is injured the burden is on the nurse.

plus - have you ever tried to clean and jerk a person... extremely awkward! rofl

Weights are more cooperative :)

[jm123]

I don't view this as unreasonable. For my job at my factory I had to endure a back screen that involved several rather difficult exercises. They then had you lift progressively heavier boxes. To pass this exam you had to at least lift 80lbs, although they have you go to failure or 120lbs. It was harder for me to pass the body weight exercises then to lift 120lbs. Keep in mind when they state 100lbs they most likely are talking a 100% perfect lifting scenario, and they honestly do not plan on you lifting that amount. They are just trying to eliminate potential accidents, if you are in a prone circumstance.

[elthia]

The thing of it is, there is a difference between lifting a box in a setting when you can use proper body mechanics. And assisting a patient that suddenly panics, fights you, twists, goes limp..or you are having to bend, twist, shuffle, scoot otherwise move over equipment that's too high/too low/too close/too far and manuever around equipment, cords, tubing, while trying not to pull on incisions or chest tubes and the pt is a good 12 inches taller than you and 150+ pounds heavier....all the while trying to maintain proper body mechanics...

I have and will continue to tell patients that when I am transferring you... please cooperate with me, not listening and following instructions is how you and I will both get hurt. If you don't feel comfortable with me transferring you, then I will get assistance. However, we do not have male nurses working on night shift, and we do not have lifts for transferring patients. We do, however, transfer patients quite frequently and we perform cardiac rehab on this floor, so we know what we are doing, please trust us, we do this on a daily basis.