Support the Lift Team Bill, SB1151!

[newgrad916]

Support the Lift Team Bill, SB1151!

As nurses, we are all at tremendous risk for developing debilitating back problems while on the job. According to an Occupational and Environmental Medicine research study, "health care workers...lead the nation in work-related musculoskeletal disorders."

SB 1151, more accurately known as the "Hospital Patient and Health Care Worker Injury Protection Act"" requires acute care hospitals to create a patient protection and health care worker back injury plan. This bill will provides three things:

- The establishment of assistive patient transfer and repositioning personnel and equipment

- Protection from disciplinary action for health care workers who refuse to lift, reposition, or transfer a patient due to concerns about patient or worker safety, if there is a lack of trained lift team personnel or equipment.

- The requirement that each acute care hospital conduct a self-assessment of needs in regards to implementation of the zero-lift policy, and mandates implementation of lift assistance programs when needed

The continuous increases in the obesity and acuity of our patients in all levels of health care will indefinitely add to the physical demands on our health care workers, resulting in greater risks for work related injuries. The passing of this bill would prove to be a wise investment that would proactively preserve the wellness of our workforce, a measure that is desperately needed during this time of nurse shortages.

Urge the governor now to invest in the health and welfare of California's nurses!

http://www.govmail.ca.gov/

[Music in My Heart]

While I endorse the general idea I think that now is not the time to be pushing for more restrictions. You've certainly noticed the malaise that has beset the country and is particularly profound here in the now-tarnished Golden State.

Now is the time to stand pat (and probably be ready to defend the staffing ratios), not to push for more legislation.

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

i'd suggest that no one support thids bill and instead support legislation to require employes to have policies and equipment to promote a minimal lifting policy - take a look at the best practice in the EU

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

adding my : info cleamed from serving on homecare agency's safety committee.

sb1151 is dead: october 3, 2008 fifth veto on safe patient handling for california

have you seen ana's occupational health campaign?

adopted in 2003, the position of the american nurses association (ana) is that nurses should not have to manually lift, transfer or reposition patients.

position statement: elimination of manual patient handling to prevent work- related musculoskeletal disorders

the handle with care® campaign seeks to mount a profession-wide effort to prevent back and other musculoskeletal injuries through greater education and training, and increased use of assistive equipment and patient-handling devices. the campaign also seeks to reshape nursing education, and federal and state ergonomics policy by highlighting the ways technology-oriented safe-patient handling benefits patients and the nursing workforce.

ana launches 'handle with care' ergonomics campaign (9/17/03)

...in addition to launching the campaign, ana has also been actively lobbying congress and working through the regulatory process to establish stronger ergonomics protections for nurses. the ana testified repeatedly before the occupational safety and health administration (osha) throughout the 1990s on the need for an ergonomics standard. this standard was promulgated in 2000 but repealed the following year by congress, which ordered osha to cease all work related to the standard. ana continued pressing policy and lawmakers to address ergonomics hazards, and earlier this year, osha released nursing home guidelines for preventing msds.

"while it is encouraging that the federal guidelines explicitly recommend elimination of manual lifting, they are not mandated and are not enforceable," blakeney said. "we have to do better than that. what we need is another strong federal ergonomics mandate, and the handle with care campaign will help in achieving this goal."

using the ana position statement, elimination of manual patient handling to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (see below) as a foundation, the handle with care campaign seeks to educate nurses regarding advances in science and technology that support ana's goal of securing a nationwide "no-lifting" policy. among the campaign's chief goals are developing safe workplaces in acute- and long-term-care settings through safe patient-handling techniques and patient lift devices; providing nurses with the information they need to recognize and prevent the risk of back injuries and msds; and decreasing health care industry costs by reducing nurse injuries and compensation claims.

according to the bureau of labor statistics, nursing personnel are among the highest at risk for msds, with nursing aides, orderlies and attendants ranking first (ahead of truck drivers and laborers) and rns sixth in a list of at-risk occupations for strains and sprains. "these statistics provide clear, convincing evidence of the urgent need to implement lifting, transfer and other safe-handling devices as well as educational strategies aimed at preventing msds," said blakeney. "the goal of this campaign is to establish a nationwide 'no-lifting' policy, similar to policies that are already in place in the united kingdom, australia and other industrialized nations," she added.

since this campaign started, few states have enacted legislation

safe patient handling movement

enacted to date

prompted by ana's handle with care campaign which began in 2004, eight states have enacted "safe patient handling" legislation: maryland, minnesota, new jersey, new york, ohio, rhode island, texas, and washington, with a resolution from hawaii.

in 2008, ten states introduced legislation seeking health care worker protections through programs restricting or eliminating manual lifting of patients. they include: california, connecticut, florida, hawaii, illinois, kansas, maryland, minnesota, missouri, and new york; two of which passed legislation: maryland and missouri. related bills died in florida, kansas, minnesota, and vermont.

i'd try effectively persuade legislators that since california ergonomics regulation: final version (effective july 3, 1997) are not being followed by employers, legislation need to protect workers from repetative motion injury (rmi).

info on "achieving legislative and regulatory buy-in" : injury prevention | safe lifting portal | legislative

anne hudson, director of the work injured nurses' group (wing usa), sends out updates on legislative efforts to "halt needless injuries to nursing staff, patients, and residents from hazardous manual patient lifting." her work injury story is featured in ana handle with care brochure pdf

this is an area where nurses can work togther within each state to get legislation passed.

ana:

osha ergonomic guidelines for nursing homes

handle with care backgrounder

patient care ergonomics resource guide - part 1 pdf

patient care ergonomics resource guide - part 2 pdf

ergoweb:

ergonomics standards and guidelines

evidence-based practices for safe patient handling and movement.