Weight Lifting RN's

That's not an uncommon job requirement. I've seen 70 or 80# lift requirements more often, but I have seen it as high as 100#.


They aren't asking for a weight you can bench-press, after all.

Think about it -- it isn't unusual to ask two nurses to lift a 200# patient up in bed.

I can lift 100# without too much trouble, and I'm an averaged-sized female. I carried a 95# dog from my car to the vet's office last week, and only had trouble when I had to open the door.

Moving patients is part of the job. Peds patients can be big too. I have several 120 lb 9Y on my sons football team. Most hospitals now treat peds up to 21Y. Pts are getting bigger...ambulances are being built for pts up to 1600lbs. Lifts are being installed in hospital rooms for moving pts for that reason.

Lifting 100lbs is not really that big of a requirement. Refusing to lift/move a pt would kind of tag a person as not being a team player....

Bo, don't you dare give up nursing because of this. Honestly, how many nurses can safely lift 100#? The average person will not be able to do this. I agree that hoisting them up in bed with a helper is pretty easy, but for one person to lift a 100# safely is not a reasonable request. This is why back injuries are so common. I have no problem being a team player, if my team involves more than just me as far as lifting. If I saw someone attempting to lift a person, who couldn't really help themselves, I would dive in. I've never seen anyone attempt to do this, honestly, we get help. I've seen back injuries end nursing careers and I for one can honestly tell you that I will not attempt to do a lift if either my pt or my safety is on the line. I would hope that all nursing staff gets the help they need.