No lift policy

Yes, Hoyer is a brand name. Our rehab unit gets all the good Hoyers and we get to use our backs, except to weight daily weights, no built in weighers in the beds, except in critical care, we use a scale that lifts them in the air and weighs them.

Sure it would be expensive, but if hospitals would invest some money in hoists, etc. imagine the lost work time they would save. Duh.

we have a similar policy in my work place. what it basically states that once the pt is evaluated by pt( which they have to be by the day of admission/readmission) if they have a weight bearing status of any, you as cna or nurse are to encourage the right body mechanics to stand on there on with either them standing on there own or walker or we have what are called buddy belts which are used to assist the resident when standing up that wraps around there mid section and able to give help when standing that way you are not pulling on them or picking them up they are able to do it themselves, it took me a little while to get used to this procedure because i was used to just picking everyone up and it is easier that way but it does give the resident a little extra added boost of encouragement that they can do it themselves, and it does take a little extra time to do it this way though, and then for the people that can not bear weight at all are put on lifts until they can be safely transfered by one or two people well i hope this helps

We have a "no-lift" policy in the UK, and are taught how to move patients safely, with use of equipment. HA! However, equipment is always breaking, going "missing" or being "borrowed", patients have infections or the hoist has sh*t all over it and is being washed. Not all patients are safe to use equipment on. We are taught how to move patients by practising on each other. However, no one has ever told me how to move a non-compliant patient who has a tracheostomy, has millions of wires, lines and tubing and has a head injury and is agitated and trying to get out of bed, and about to pull everything out! All in less space than a match box. Hmmm.....

A colleague of mine has permanantly damaged her back and lives on painkillers because she moved a patient too quickly who had a tracheostomy and was vomiting and about to aspirate. She simply turned him onto his side. She now lives with permanant pain.

Please be careful everyone.

originally posted 01/03/04 on the UK Nurses Forum


No Lift Policy in our Health District

In our Health Region, and pretty much all over the province (I believe), we have a strict no lift policy. We are trained in TLR...
Transferring, Lifting and Repositioning. "Minimal amount of effort with the maximum use of equipment'. This training is offered by SAHO, Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations. And in most facilities, you are expected to hold a certificate in TLR before allowed to work.
This training teaches us to use good body mechanics, and there is certain criteria that a client or patient must meet to fit into different catagories of transfers and moves.
Independent Transfer
Supervised Transfer
Minimum Assistance Transfer
One-person Transfer with Belt
One-person Transfer with Belt and assistant
Sit/Stand Lift
Total Lift
We also use slider sheets, draw sheets and boards to move clients from bed to chair etc.

Now all this being said, there are times when you have to tug, pull, push, and rotate, twist, and bend over. It isn't always possible to follow the techniques exactly, but for the most part, it is good training to have. It cuts back on the amount of injuries nurses and caregivers get and probably claims to Workers Compensation for injuries on the job. I have no idea how that works, it has never happened to me so I am not sure of the whole process.
So we have a No Lift Policy in effect here. This has been in place for a number of years I believe.

This thread reminds me of something I have noticed, being fairly new to this region of the country- patients WANT to be lifted. I ask them to scoot over about 12 inches across a level table to another level table and they look at me like Ive just asked them to run a marathon. Im talking about otherwise healthy individuals admitted from home(where they presumably walked around unassisted) with ortho injuries to one extremity. I wheel them in, obviously very much working alone, ask them to scoot and they say "cant you all just pull me over" or "dont you have any help?" Whats up with that?? Is it just a cultural thing- if you are in the hospital part of getting your money's worth is not having to literally lift a finger or what? Just curious.

There is another swedish company called Romedic i think it's romedic.com. There products a service are fantastic.

This is gonna be a little long ,sorry....

I have not had time to read all the posts so forgive me if some one else had said this , but just last year I was hired in a LTC facility that had a "No-Lift" policy, so they do exist in the states ...the only problem with this SNF was the policy was only in effect on paper! Out on the floor CNA's were paired and as a new CNA I was not even shown how to operate the lifts we had sitting in the hallways and when I asked about them the parters I had said we did not have time to "mess with the equipment " while we were doing rounds or getting clients up in the a.m.....needless to say about 3 weeks in I injured my back assisting another student put a resident on a potty chair, she had no idea how to lift manually and I did not know it until too late and I was NOT dropping that lady!( minor injury thank G*d) and the company told me they would pay my medical bills out of pocket, if I passed the drug screen which i did, but refused to file anything with WC , which I was informed by the hospital as I was getting my x-rays is illegal in my state( the receptionist was actually kinda nasty about it like I was not wanting it turned in )...I got some legal advice about returning to work there after my dr's excuse was out and I was told to NOT work another shift there , since they did not create a paperwork trail of my injury if I was hurt again in that facility they could and would likely claim I had a previous undisclosed injury and therefore make me ineligible for ANY WC claim in the future.
I found out from a seasoned staff RN a few weeks later that it was about time for state to visit and a reported worker injury would have called undue attention to the fact that the No-lift policy was not being enforced as the facility was understaffed and not giving time during rounds to properly use the equipment....basically they were giving lip service to a policy they had no intention of enforcing!
Moral of this story ...if your employer says they have a No-Lift policy and you see it is not being enforced effectively BE CAREFUL and refuse to put your career and /or body in danger!

Wow..where do I begin. This is a topic that really concerns me.

Injured my back in assisted living. Lifting 150-200 lb practically immoblie pts. And this is "assisted Living" ??!!!! I had been through a semster of RN. We were told nurses only are to manually lift 31lbs ergonomically=with good body mechanics. I thought erroneously that as a CNA I would be expected to lift more. i was assured by my RN boss that it could be done safely if done right.

On day 3 I felt first pain on lifting. told boss-RN right away. Asked for advice on how to do it w/o hurting myself. She showed me the same technique.

Pain just got worse and worse with successive unsafe lifting. kept telling boss and her husband about the pain. fellow assistants knew too.

I had seen alot of patient care issues that didn't seem right. Unsafe even illegal patient care. So i started to really mistrust employers. started my own research on patient lifitng.....

Researched OSHA, Veterans of America, American Nurses Assocition :

-THE HUMAN BODY IS NOT MADE TO LIFT MORE THAN 35LBS EVEN WHEN DONE WITH GOOD BODY MECHANICS. This means feet sholder width apart, bend at knees, stomach tensed, buttocks tensed(to protect weak back muscles) bend down to lift object, hold close to body, lift with back straight, no twisting when lifting. LIFTING GREATER THAN THIS WEIGHT ERGONOMICALLY WILL WILL, SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TO CAUSE INJURY TO THE SPINE.You might not feel it right away but it does cause damage..


My computer is loosing power I'll post now

continued from above...

IT IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE PATIENTS TO BE LIFTED AND DROPPED DURING TRANSFERS. CAUSES NERVE AND MUSCULO-SKELETAL DAMAGE TO THIER SHOULDERS AND HIP FRACTURES.

-I believe the American Nurses Assoic (ANA) calls for no manual lifting. Because even lifting 35lbs of a pt is dangerous. You can't gUarentee that you can hold them close enough, they can get combattive, non-comliant and move suddenly or resist the transfer/lift, make your back twist etc. the 35lbs is an estimate from OSHA's reasearch on moving objects. They say 50lb box lifitng ergonomically is safe, anything over damages the spine. So then some have used that research to estimate safe pt handling weights.

-ANA has a Safe Patient Handling campaign going. No manual lifting. Heavy reliance on mechanical devices-there are so many out there!!! Geri-chairs, sliding sheets, standing lifts from the ceiling or not, hoyers, mattresses that blow up to help pt who fell on floor (lifting someone from floor prob most dangerous lift there is) I've only seen Hoyers but have read about all these other devices.

-I think California and Texas are now no-lift states. Attempts to pass similar policies in Congress passed one house but not the other yet.

Let's write to our congressioanl reps about this problem.!!!!! We in the US are so behind other developed nations on this issue. I believe 8 European countries have no-lift policies in health care facilities.


Back to my personal work related injury...

-I went to boss/RN about my pain after I had researched a lot on the internet, organizations I listed. I refused to do it any more and offered my resignation. (stupid since they caused the injury, but learned that later) She kept insisting I lift the same pts that were causing me pain. I told her I would care for those who need minimal assistance in standing, transfers etc. She kept insisting I do all pts. I kept offering resignation. She tried guilt tactics, complimented me on my nursing potential, she told me not to see a doctor because "he" would tell me not to lift, she said if I only cared for some pts the other caregivers, who also have back pain would go to thier doctor and refuse to lift too. I kept very respectfully and even apologetically offering to leave in 2 wks., could i please have 2 weeks!!! She kept me on.

I took care of the pts I estimted were only 35lbs lifts or less. I asked othrs to do the lfiting when I thought it was unsafe. I hated doing this to the fellow caregivers but had no choice, but not on the bosses.

The pain got a bit better only. I called for DR apt. I was told if injury happened at work I need injury report, have to file workers comp or my insurance wouldn't pay.

Told this to Boss. She started for first time to be unpleasant to me. Spoke of me sticking her wiht workers comp, she whinned that her comp would have to pay for my medcal expenses. She accused me of suing her warned it would be very complicated for me etc. Then the next day when I said I have no choice, I want to see my doctor and I wont pay for the visit out of pocket she asked me not to come in that day. 2 hrs later she told me not to come in next week.

I brought in doctors note about needing to be on light duty. They refused to honor this. Had no light duty for me. essentially I was out of work from one day to the next

They refused, this is illegal, to give me their workers comp information. refused to pay for my lost wages and medical bills and refused to allow me to recover them from thier workers comp insurance by denying me access to the wc info. Iwas told to go protect my own rights because they wouldn't do it.

They were rude and hostile. Accused me of "making a living this way". Stoped returning my calls. Refused anything in writing about no light duty available but insisted when asked that I was not fired-because they knew its illegalt to fire someone after they have filed WComp.

Accoding to OSHA all employees are to have a poster up about employee and employer rights and obligations concerning work place injuries. This is supposed to be posted where employees can see on a regular basis. Workers comp information-company name, adress, employer id, workers comp company name, agress, phone number and adjsuter name is supposed to be provided. In My state it is the law that compnies wiht one employee or more have workers comp insurance.

I have my hearing in August. Lawyers wanted me to go straight for their doctors and MRI and PT. That's where they get thier cut. But NSAIDS cured my back and unnecessary MRI is like getting 10 x-rays.dr told me. So beware of that.

I will try to represent myself. i'm lucky I wasn't hurt more. i want my lost wages and copays paid for. I also want to stand up for all the other caregivers in this place and others who are abused in this way. it amounts to torture in a way the pain and physical damage this employer is causing her employees. and I'm sure so many others do it as well.

I presented my employer with the research I had about safe pt handling. all the devices that can be used. The dangers of handling such heavy weights, the damage it does to caregiver and to the pt. She came up wiht one excuse after another..takes too much time, we can't afford it etc. Bottom line...money.

Yes it can save a facility worker comp money for work injury expenses but if they can get away wiht intimidating and lying and illegal tactics letting you go after your injury cus you can't do what you were hired to do even thoughtthey are the reason you can't do it, all to prevent you from filing for workers comp, there is no savings to them.

I'll try to send some link but in meantime you can reserch American Nurses association. amercian veterans, OSHA(occuopational safety and health admin-you can file a complaint anonymously about unsfe working conditons) Keyword "musculoskeletsal injuires, nurses" too.

Nurses suffer more injuires than any occupation. Somethng needs to be done.

My username is LPNORNOT for a reason. I am out of the RN program (it was too intense). I'm going to study to work in a lab-MLT. But I so enjoyed the patient interaction I have expereinced, especially at the place I was hurt, ironically. but I am scared to go for an LPN career because of the potential for injury. i'll prob get my MLT cert and maybe later LPN. At least if i hurt myself I have a good career to fall back on.

Musculo-skeletal Injuries, Safe Patient Handling Research
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From: American Federation of Teachers:
http://www.aft.org/topics/no-lift/


Numerous studies have documented a high prevalence of back, knee, shoulder and other joint pain among healthcare workers. Based on workers' compensation claims for back injuries, nursing aides and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) ranked fifth and ninth, respectively, among all occupations as those most at risk for such injuries. Nursing aides are at a higher risk for back injuries than construction laborers, lumbermen, material handlers and laborers.
Lifting and transferring of patients are the most commonly reported causes of back pain and knee and shoulder injury among healthcare workers.
Most programs for the prevention of back and joint injury to healthcare personnel tend to focus on proper lifting techniques, body mechanics and back care.
But many researchers now recommend an ergonomics approach that focuses on workplace assessment of patient care areas, patient assessment criteria, algorithms for safe patient handling and movement, lifting and transfer equipment, peer-safety leaders, lifting teams, incident reviews and similar policies.
These ergonomic approaches to safe patient handling and transfer policies are often called "no-lift" or "zero-lift" policies.