Everyone can use a little TLC, and at Baptist Health, a multifacility health system based in Jacksonville, FL, staff get it from a program called “Transferring and Lifting with Care” or TLC.

The program is aimed at reducing the injuries that result from lifting, repositioning and transferring patients, daily events that put both health care workers and patients at risk. According to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and personal care facilities rank highest in the incidence of nonfatal occupational injuries and illness, with 12.6 injuries per 100 full-time employees reported in 2002. The agency also reported that one-third of these injuries resulted in absence from work, and that nursing aides and orderlies were reported to have the highest number of absentee days (44,000) due to musculoskeletal disorders.

To prevent these types of injuries, Baptist Health developed a comprehensive program that uses assistive equipment and devices on nursing units and in clinical departments at every one of its five hospitals to help caregivers safely lift and move patients.

Injury prevention consultants are helping Baptist Health create a cultural change in how staff lift and move patients, notes Beth Mehaffey, vice president of human resources for Baptist Health.“This is being accomplished through the establishment of customized policies and procedures, ongoing clinical support, and formal training on assistive equipment for lifting, repositioning and transferring patients.”

Chris Olinski, RN, MSN, COHN-S/CM, manager of employee health for Baptist Health, says programs addressing lifting injuries are increasingly needed as health care workers are aging.“The average age of a nurse in the United States is 48 years old, and the average patient’s weight is 250 lbs. That’s 20-25 years of lifting, causing wear and tear on a caregiver’s back. When you combine that with the average patient’s weight, hospitals are losing caregivers from the bedside, and these are experienced employees.”

Not only do the injuries result in significant liabilities from injuries to patients and staff, but they also produce costs related to bringing in additional staff to replace those taken off line by injuries, Olinski explains. One of the first steps toward addressing lifting injuries at Baptist Health was hiring an employee injury specialist, Holly Lemmons, LPN, in the employee health department. She points out that the health care industry has long tolerated lifting injuries that would be cause for alarm in any other industry.

“Health care workers are the only laborers in this country who consider 100 lbs. light,” Lemmons says. “In any other industry, such as UPS or the U.S. Postal Service, staff would enlist the use of a mechanical device to assist them with a load heavier than 50 lbs. As a result, bedside caregivers endure microtears to their muscles. These microtears accumulate over years and years of undue stress on back muscles from lifting and moving patients, which could turn into a career-ending injury.”

This story was adapted from one originally published by AHC Media LLC (800-688-2421).

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