National Nurses United

NewsBriefs.REV_April 6/24/10 2:38 PM Page 9 Bill Would Reduce Back Injuries Among Nurses NATIONAL t was during a Minnesota blizzard in 1982 when, rather than going home, registered nurse Bettye Shogren agreed to work a double shift in her hospital's surgical step-down unit. Of the several patients Shogren was assigned to care for during the shift, one was a woman who weighed over 400 pounds. The unit was short staffed, and Shogren along with only one nursing assistant undertook the task of moving the patient as needed, turning her at least 10 times. By the end of her shift, Shogren found herself in severe pain. She had ruptured a disk in her back, an injury that ultimately ended her bedside nursing career, and spawned two decades of chronic pain. Shogren's story is not unique among the nation's nurses. In 2008, more than 36,000 healthcare workers were injured by lifting and transferring patients, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Twelve percent of nurses who plan to leave the profession cite back injuries as a contributing factor. "We lift an average of 1.8 tons per eighthour shift," stated Shogren during a March 12 hearing of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety. "We don't see that in other jobs; they use equipment. Yet nurses are expected to work like this every shift for 30 or more years relying on the hydraulics of their bodies." Although Shogren's back injury stopped her from caring for patients, it also inspired her to become one of the nation's leading advocates for safe patient handling. Her story led U.S. Senator Al Franken (DMinnesota) to introduce legislation, S. 1788, to establish a national safe patient handling standard that would require employers to provide the equipment nurses need to safely lift, transfer, and reposition patients. Supported by National Nurses United, the legislation would, in essence, eliminate manual patient lifting. I M AY 2 0 1 0 A nurse at a Minnesota hospital uses lifting equipment to move a patient. Although some employers have taken steps to deploy patient handling technology, many have not. Cost is often cited as a factor. But according to Shogren, employers are not looking at the long-term savings that could be generated through injury prevention. "It is unbelievable that hospitals haven't jumped on this technology," Shogren said. "The hospitals should not put profit before health. They just can't see beyond this year's bottom line." Safe patient handling equipment could have helped Pat Hartman, a former emergency room nurse, prevent injuries she sustained from years of lifting, transferring, and repositioning patients. She would often go home at the end of her shift with a sore neck, but did not give much thought to the W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G wear and tear her body underwent during each shift. It was not until she visited an osteopathic doctor that she learned that she had a ruptured disk in her neck. After surgery to fuse two cervical vertebrae, Hartman was able to find another job in an outpatient chemotherapy unit where she practices today, and where she benefits from the availability of safe patient handling equipment. She believes that S. 1788 is necessary to ensure that all nurses, not just those with willing employers and/or union representation, are afforded the protection of safe patient handling policies. "A lot of places that don't have union representation, don't have a voice to make this happen," Hartman said. "It comes down to economics, and employers won't do it unless they have to." Other nurses view safe patient handling as essential to providing good patient care. "If we don't lift, then the patient doesn't get moved, making them susceptible to bed sores," said Teresa Peterson, an oncology nurse at North Memorial Hospital in Minnesota who suffered herniated disks in her back while lifting a patient six years ago. "With proper equipment, patients can be lifted with less risk of falling, and with less pain and discomfort." As S. 1788 moves through the legislative process, Shogren anticipates the meaningful protections that it will afford. And, aside from her own experience as a direct-care nurse, she has one more personal stake in Senator Franken's bill. "My daughter is a nurse," said Shogren, "and I want her workplace to be as safe as possible." —Kelly Green N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9

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