VUMC Patient Handling Injuries
- In 2020 there were 101 health care providers injured from moving, mobilizing or lifting patients.
- The majority of these were a result of manually repositioning patients in bed using a draw sheet and not using friction-reducing devices such as slippery sheets.
- More than 80% of all patient handling injuries result from health care providers lifting adults without using the appropriate pieced of patient handling equipment.
VUMC Lessons Learned
Using readily available patient handling equipment/technology is more beneficial than looking for a colleague and asking for help.
- Less time involved.
- Less risk of harm to the health care provider.
- Safe, quality patient care.
- Less force to lift, transfer, push and pull.
Note: Injuries reported are staff member self-reported injuries to OHC.
