Is anyone else annoyed by the expectations of male nurses in transferring patients?

[WillRegNurse]

At my new job on a med-surg floor, we have only two pieces of lifting equipment: a sit-to-stand machine and a hoyer lift. When you want to use them, they never seem to be around. They are shared with other floors and are underused because the experienced nurses see it as a big to-do to scour the floor for them and get the patient into the harness. For that reason, most of the experienced nurses never want to bother using them. They see it as more convenient and efficient to just recruit a bunch of personnel from the hall, including as many male nurses as are around, and utilize these 4 to 6 people to, in my opinion, unsafely transfer patients who are as heavy as 250 lbs, have dementia, and hit people.

Just the other day, my preceptor asked me to "get in front of this guy" who was 71 years old, 300 lbs, demented, and combative. He also had sprained something in his leg from falling a while back and was unwilling to stand. So 4 other people and me had to reach under his arms and bear all his weight onto our backs to try and shuffle him from the bed to the wheelchair so that he could be discharged. We did get him into the wheelchair but he was about to fall forward at one point and so my preceptor had to charge forward into his gut and ram him with her head in order to stop his fall forward and send him backwards into the wheelchair instead. It was one of the most absurd things I have ever taken part in.

I made a point to say it would be a better idea to take time to use the lifting equipment on a patient like that next time and she agreed, but I believe that when transferring heavy patients, many nurses feel that it is quicker to just get a whole lot of people and get it done without the use of equipment, regardless of how much it hurts our backs.

What I resent is that the next time this happens, and I refuse to transfer a heavy patient that should really be transferred via equipment, that I will be seen as unskilled, lazy, or a weakling for not wanting to have a work related injury during my first year out of nursing school. I especially despise comments from nurses who say "it is nice to sometimes have a male nurse help move the patients" as if being a man and having more upper body strength does jack for saving your back when you got some huge person falling down onto you!

What does everyone else make of this?

[royhanosn]

does not matter what country. basic lifting equipment should always be available.

dont prove your female or male, if you get a back injury its your fault, except if the patient strikes out/acts out, psych patient or AZ patient. Use your brain not your back.

[bftighe]

Always use a lift for most residents . Everything is safe for everyone involved.

You got to be totally stressed not too. You be feeling your back one day if you don't.

[misket]

I, for one am very annoyed that anyone at all is expected to take unnecessary risks with their safety or the patient's. I am a single mom and the sole provider for my son and if I get hurt and can't work, pardon my french, we're screwed. I am a 120 lb. female who was told that if I couldn't lift 150 lb. resistant male by myself, I would have to find somewhere else to work because "he's only 150 lbs." I was always taught "safety first", for the patient and for the caregiver. Who will take care of you and/or your family if you get hurt? Stand up for yourself. Those who want to belittle you for it won't be the ones paying your bills if, God forbid, you do get hurt. It happens.:mnnnrsngrk:

[Kevin RN08]

Unsafe is UNSAFE, PERIOD.

That said, I don't mind assisting others in turning, transferring, or cleaning "heavy" patients. I am 6'2" 195-205, I should be called on to assist with some of the larger patients. Just as I may call on others when I can't get an IV started, want a second opinion, need to clean the peri-area of a "shy" female, or to assist in turning, transferring, or cleaning my patients. It is called TEAMWORK, we all have strengths and weaknesses and we need to use the collective strengths to best care for OUR patients.

[noc4senuf]

In LTC, we have a ratio of mechanical of 1 lift for every 5-6 residents. we also have strict guidelines to follow for transfers and lifting.... nothing over 25#. This is to prevent back injuries and high incidence of workers comp. If they don't want to follow the guidelines, I give one warning and the next time they are out the door... terminated. I can't risk having the residents injured.

[LouisVRN, RN]

I work nights on a post-op/ortho unit, basically everyone on our unit requires assistance of some kind with getting out of bed/ambulation/transfers etc. And we sometimes, especially with low census, work with a skeleton crew and everyone is required to assist in the safe transfer of a patient. The last night I worked, all the other nurses, I was excluded being 9 months pregnant, were required to transfer a patient off the ER stretcher. Yeah it would be nice if the equipment was always available but I don't think it is wrong to ask a male nurse to help. It is a pretty accurate generalization that regardless of weight males are stronger than females. That being said if I ask one of my male co-workers to assist with a transfer of a patient, I'll be happy to assist them with anything that I can. It's all about teamwork. The guys I work with I know are happy to help when I ask, but I think its because they know I'm not trying to take advantage of them.

[Alnitak7]

IT ISN'T JUST THE MEN who make comments such as, "get in front of this guy."

When I had an obese patient who was dead weight and officially a two-person transfer, there were two girls sitting at the counter and they both demanded that I move her by myself. They got upset when I refused to be a flunky to their whims.

I don't know why. I never did this to them and they had been lecturing at me about "team work" and it was pretentious.

I reported them to the DoN.

Also, if your facility is refusing to give you adequate equipment and supplies I think you should be livid.

It's only a matter of time before an accident happens.

Maybe the State Board of Nursing could help protect your welfare or maybe OSHA.

[jm_emt]

It is sad that this "state-of-the-art" piece of equipment (floor patient sling lifts) was invented 60 years ago and there have been no major improvements.

Yes, the slings are better and more varied, some are electric/battery powered, some fold up, and some are lighter but the basic concept has not changed.

Also, a variety of patients cannot be bent, compressed, and hoisted in a sling and so they cannot use lifts - these pts must be lifted out of bed or remain bed bound. Lastly, lifts require two experienced/trained caregivers which means they are often not usable in home care or in facilities that are chronically understaffed (even when a lift can be located and brought to the patient's room).

Patient transfer devices must be improved to help nurses do their job without become "human sacrifices" who endanger their own health in order to improve the health of their patients.