differences in moving and handling

[nightmare]

Just wondering after reading several topics on US safe handling.

How do you British nurses who have moved to the US find the difference in moving and handling? Have you had any back probs.since starting work over there? Did you get any "lifting " training before you started there? Have you tried to convert your fellow US colleagues to non lifting methods?

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

the obvious first question is what is the manual handling statute law situation in the US ...?

it's obviously different as if you look at EMS - the US is generally using Ambulance trollies that the UK considers unfit for new installations , and doesn't use ramps and lifts to the extent the UK does ( majority of ambulances bought new by the NHS and the VASes for the past 8 -10 years)

manual handling related illness and injury costs a lot in the UK, especially in the NHS because of how the sick pay scheme, occupational health, and medical retirement rules work aside from the loss of earnings damages and Health and Safety excecutive fines that would be ordered should such a case come to court ( also remembering when the HSE gets involved it's a criminal case as well as a scivil compensation case)

as for the lsing issue with hoists - you are missing out on a billing opportunity here - single patient use hoist slings are available

[geordiegirl2]

the nurses here dont know that theres a better way of moving patients, and they are not really interested anyway.

they think that bad backs are part of being a nurse.

try telling them that they are even injuring the patients and they just think that we are know it alls from the uk.

although its a litigous society, if you hurt yourself in work theres a thing called workmans comp,,,,which pays very little and gives you nothing. not even sure how it works.

i agree nurses here really don't know any better and think of back injury is part of the job.

there also seems to be a mind set that you have to give 'yourself' to be a good nurse which translates into you shouldn't care about yourself only the patient! not quite how i was trained.

i was once asked why i came into nursing and told that really it was a calling rather than a career choice.

[cariad]

with the appropriate amount of people to move or lift someone, our backs should not suffer. good technique, and having everyone in agreement with the move is fundamental. hope this might help.

i find that moving and handling issues between the uk and the us nurses is "lost in translation"

[color=#556b2f]the fact that you are telling us about team lifting to help says it all.

[color=#556b2f]us nurses just dont have the education about moving and handling, and that seems to be the problem. you can give them as much equipment as you like but without the rationale and the ducation behind it and the mandates to make them use it, then they dont understand the uk concept that nurses dont lift.

[color=#556b2f]when i say that us nurses ask the question, "well, who does it for you?"

[color=#556b2f]they dont understand the concept that you dont have to lift a patient to move them.