Pictured left to right are: Mary Morehouse, RN, Sandra Parsons, PA, Jan Simpson, PT, DPT, MS, Sheila Fonner, RN and Robert Scholefield, COO.
(Utica, NY) St. Elizabeth Medical Center celebrated the 5th anniversary of its Safe Patient Handling Program on May 18. The Nursing, Rehabilitation and Employee Health departments worked collaboratively to identify the needs for the program and it was implemented on May 18, 2005.
St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) was the first in Mohawk Valley area to have a hospital-wide Safe Patient Handling (SPH) program. SEMC wanted to provide the safest possible environment for patients and staff when patient transfers and movements are required within the hospital.
The program takes a multidisciplinary approach under the direction of:
Sandra Parsons, RPA-C, MS, Administrative Coordinator; Jan Simpson, PT, DPT, MS, Rehabilitation Clinical Coordinator; Mary Morehouse, RN, BS, Nursing Clinical Coordinator; and Sheila Fonner, RNP, Safe Patient Handling Coordinator/Educator. It involves many healthcare workers, including those without direct patient-care activities.
The program was created to meet the following objectives:
• To increase the quality of care for patients
• To perform safe and comfortable mechanical lifts, transfers, and repositioning for patients
• To create a safe working environment for the staff by reducing the frequency of manual lifting, transferring and repositioning
• To reduce and prevent work-related injuries to healthcare workers
• To reduce lost and restricted time related to injury and/or fatigue to staff
• To reduce the frequency and severity of employee injuries
Work injuries in healthcare are often the result of patient lifting, transferring and repositioning activities. By incorporating new patient-handling technology, SEMC has seen positive results.
Decreasing the number and severity of injuries resulted in a decline of Lost Work Days and workers’ compensation costs. In 2005, 72 percent of SEMC workers’ compensation costs were directly related to patient-handling injuries. Within 18 months, the cost for patient-handling injuries was dramatically reduced to 12 percent.
“The program is an ongoing process involving staff training and education, evaluation of effectiveness and patient safety, comfort and satisfaction,” said Sister M. Johanna, President/CEO of St. Elizabeth Medical Center. “We want to thank all employees for their continued efforts in making the program a success.”
The program’s success is due, in part, to the support of the Medical Center Administration and cooperation of the following departments: Nursing, Central Sterile, Environmental, Facilities, Bio-Med, Finance, Purchasing, Information Technology, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Infection Prevention, Radiology, Printing and Human Resources.
