Published Jan 25, 2017
Happylady123
10 Posts
I'm a nursing student, and I'm concerned about back safety. Do you know of any no-lift hospitals in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area? I know the VA hospitals are no-lift, but are there any others that you know of? Or do you know if certain hospitals around Dallas-Ft.Worth take better care to keep their nurses from lifting?
Thank you!
Sour Lemon
5,016 Posts
I'm a nursing student, and I'm concerned about back safety. Do you know of any no-lift hospitals in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area? I know the VA hospitals are no-lift, but are there any others that you know of? Or do you know if certain hospitals around Dallas-Ft.Worth take better care to keep their nurses from lifting?Thank you!
No-lift hospitals? Say what?
Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN
5,047 Posts
Policy/Program Development - Worker Safety in Hospitals | Occupational Safety and Health Administration I haven't worked in one either, although all of our ICU rooms have ceiling lifts.
In sounds beautiful written out, but how realistic is it? I've worked in a hospital with all the "fancy" equipment, but no one had time to actually use it. You'd need plenty of staff to make a true "no-lift" reality. Not to mention that equipment has to be tracked down, available, working, etc.
Wolf at the Door, BSN
1,045 Posts
No, only the VA employs that policy, because once someone gets injured they can milk it forever at the VA.
I will NEVER work in TEXAS again or another southern overweigh state. I got hurt Fall 2015. Left 6 months later.
Extra Pickles
1,403 Posts
no lift doesn't mean no patients fall on you, that you don't catch stumbling patients, and that they don't injure you in the process. NO lift may be a safeguard so that you use the safety equipment, slides and hoyers but reality is that you will use your back and risk hurting it when those safety measures fail.
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
Most of the wear and tear on my back and neck came from cumulative effects from patients who you normally wouldn't think to get special equipment for. They aren't obese and if you asked for the hoyer, you'd get a lot of puzzled glances. But over time, this kind of stuff adds up. I don't see how nurses can truly shield themselves from the effects of lifting. Sure, more equipment for the extreme end of the spectrum, but as in my case, cumulative effects from seemingly benign cases can still add up and make the outcomes similar. JMO.
rearviewmirror, BSN, RN
231 Posts
So true about equipments... remember having fancy hoyer lift but not a single time in the ed was it ever used... seriously no one has time for that. I remember having backache all the time, now that I sit most of the part of my job, I don't feel that much longer. I've been in Texas and rarely in any other states. People here are pretty big.
HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD
9,051 Posts
Horseshoe is absolutely correct. Although you can damage your back with one bad event, there is actually a greater incidence of problems from cumulative wear and tear associated with 'simple' activities like moving patients up in bed or from stretcher to bed. And it isn't just the big patients that cause problems. My biggest 'incident' was with a teensy lil' ol' lady who was trying her best to fall out of bed. I 'caught' her - and was unable to work for a few weeks afterward.
djh123
1,101 Posts
Slightly off-topic comment: when I was a student a wound care nurse, a trainee under her, me, and another student were working with a 500-lb. lady one day. At one point someone brought in a special bed, and the wound care nurse said "OK, we're going to move her to another bed", and I came close to blurting out "Are you KIDDING ME??". But our clinical instructor and a tech or two came in, and between using one of those plastic boards (way too narrow for this pt.) and the draw sheet, we slid her into the other bed.
NurseCard, ADN
2,850 Posts
My back injury came from repeated bending, and bending
the wrong way. I can remember constantly and repeatedly
bending down very low to get my medications out of our pyxis,
the year that I hurt my back.
As far as "no lifting" facilities... I once worked as a shift supervisor
for a nursing home in which practically NO ONE was ever gotten up
out of bed, or from the bed to the chair, from the chair to the toilet,
without a hoyer lift. If anyone dared not use the hoyer lift... you
opened yourself up for all kinds of crap. There really was not nearly
enough staff.