National Nurses United

Health report detailing safe patient handling recommendations. The DPH report was made public only after pressure exerted by WGBH's investiga- tion. Once published, the task force's find- ings made clear both the scope of the patient handling problem and the hospital industry's unwillingness to implement comprehensive injury prevention programs. Healthcare workers are injured on the job more than those in any other profession, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics. In Massachusetts, they are twice as likely to be injured as those in other industries and suffer from patient handling injuries at a rate 70 percent higher than those in other states. In 2010 alone, an estimated 1,000 Massachu- setts healthcare workers suffered patient handling injuries so severe that they resulted in 59 years of missed days of work, according to the DPH report. "Here in Massachusetts we're used to being a leader, not an outlier," said Sen. Harriette Chandler, a Worcester legislator who cosponsored the bill. "The lack of appropriate safe patient handling protocols is sidelining healthcare workers, increasing costs, and putting patients in jeopardy." As the state report points out, only 44 percent of Massachusetts hospitals have voluntarily developed safe patient handling plans. It is clear a legislative remedy is required, and MNA's bill matches virtually every safe patient handling recommenda- tion made by the DPH task force. Dan Rec is a registered nurse at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital and a member of the MNA board of directors. He urged members of the Joint Committee on Public Health to look at places like Faulkner that have taken steps to protect staff. Nurses and other healthcare workers at Faulkner use equipment such as HoverMatts, which allow patients to float on a cushion of air. Caregivers can then safely slide and transfer them throughout the hospital without lifting or straining. "Proper, ergonomic equipment will not only benefit caregivers," Rec said. "In addition to the decrease in injury to the nurses and other bedside staff, obtaining these tools has also increased early mobility for patients— providing them with a shorter healing time and decreased hospital stays. This in turn can provide additional cost savings to the health- care system." —Joe Markman MINNESOTA N eedy families in Minnesota will have a brighter holiday, thanks to Minnesota Nurses Association RN members who collected thousands of toys, household items, clothes, monetary contributions, and food items in November and December. Nurses in Thief River Falls in northern Minnesota held a "Souper Cookoff " to raise funds for the local food bank, or shelf as locals call it. Members and the public entered their favorite soups and made donations to the food shelf on Dec. 5. "This is our community, we live and work here and know some people are struggling," said Sheri Schoon, a registered nurse at Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center. "We wanted to help so we are raising the money and food for the food shelf. No one should go without what they need, whether it is healthcare or food on the table." Members from hospitals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area donated more than 1,000 toys, hundreds of dollars in cash and checks, and other items to the Marines' Toys for Tots campaign. A mountain of toys filled MNA's lobby in St. Paul in December. Members were interviewed on a local television station after their donations filled an entire truck at the donation center. Members in Duluth hospitals held a clothing drive for their community; Lake- Wood Health Center employees in Baudette collected nonperishable food items from their float in the Nov. 21 Frost Fest parade, among other charitable activi- ties throughout the state. —Barb Brady N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 Minnesota nurses brighten holidays for needy families

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