Electronic charting for nurses

Our hospital is building a new tower and is in the design process phase. They want to move to a model that decentralizes the typical nurses' stations and go with documentation "cock-pits" right outside the patient rooms. There would be windows so the staff can see into the patients' rooms while they are doing their computer charting. There has been a great deal of controversy over whether these stations should be sitting or standing. Everyone wants the option to sit down to document, but that means using high stools for the standing work stations. I have encountered other high stools in some of our current nursing units, and many of the older nurses do not like them because of hip/knee/back issues and lack of proper foot support. These stations in the new facility are meant to be the nurse's primary work area so they need to be comfortable. The other issues is the hallways are only 8 ft. wide, with the cock-pit recessed, but our public health department is not crazy about chairs/stools migrating out into the hallways. I am curious what the official stance is on using high stools in various areas and if there is any research that discusses the pros/cons of using these stools. Our Facilities Dept. is asking me for evidence to support one direction vs. another. What experience do you have with nursing documentation areas, sit vs. stand, chairs vs. high stools, etc.?

ecmo carts in hospitals

In our hospital our ECMO nurses (average age 50's) have requested Ergo assistances re: pushing the ECMO carts. The ECMO cart weighs about 425# and is pushed long distances between buildings/units in our system. They have many components and vision is also blocked during transport of the cart. I am interested in any ergo redesigns of this cart or processes, etc that have been effective in reducing the weight and/or improving vision while handling these carts. Purchasing addtional carts is not an option at this time.

thanks

Bridget

Ortho/Neuro and devices

We are in the midst of purchasing more equipment for our Safe Patient Handling initiative and are setting up a vendor fair to evaluate products.

We presently have the usual sit/stand and total lifts, lateral air device and repositioning sheets. The "heavy surgical" units such as the orthopaedic/neuro unit or OB report difficulty using the standard equipment; several of the reasons include the location of the surgical site(s), numerous IV's/hookups, acute pain increased by contact/pressure, patients who are very groggy, are on heavy medication dosages and/or have massive muscle bulk. Usually the patient requires 3-4 people for repositioning, getting from bed to chair etc.; this fits into our category for needing to use devices/equipment.

Any suggestions on vendors and/or equipment specific to the above population needss or is there a particular acuity/staffing level that we can reference to improve our education/training and equipment efforts as well as our outcomes on these units?
Thanks for anyone's comments.
Kathy


Kathleen S. Wolf, OTR, CRC
Return to Work & Rehabilitation Case Manager
Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Waukesha WI
Email: kathy.wolf@phci.org

New Zealand Patient Handling Guidelines

I came across a great patient handling website today from the Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand. The lift program they have created is called "Liten Up" and you may download the complete guide on the website. The FAQ section is also quite useful. Here is the link: New Zealand Patient Handling Guidelines

pt handling injuries in Radiology

Our radiology group is in denial that pt handling injuries do not exist even tough there are high injuries from doing portable x-rays at the bedside to transferring patients from w/c onto imaging table.
1. Any solutions for reducing injuries in the upper extremities from pushing the x-ray cassette underneath our patients?
2. Any suggetions (besides $ and injury rates) for getting senior management to buy in or even acknowledge that their staff are getting hurt from handling their patients?
3. Does anyone know of any total-assist lift for MRI area?
Thanks!

Decedent Care

Just wondering how your hospital staff handle the bodies? Do you use any lifts? Our Decedent Care just purchased the "Body Scoop" by Guldmann. It seems to be working fine. Would like hear others' comments? Thanks!

Back Pain and Interventions

I ran across this article today on the Usernomics website and thought I would post it and get your comments. The article is states "A Finnish review has concluded that employer attempts to push training programs that offer lifting advice and material handling devices in an effort to alleviate worker back pain do not prevent the malady, which is said to be the top cause of workers' compensation claims." It also states, "According to Maher, regulatory agencies as well as employers make the mistake of concentrating on equipment and policies that don't work such as back belts, lifting devices and workplace re-design and fail to focus on the 'only known effective intervention,' which is exercise. " I have not been able to find the actual review, just this article about the review. This seems to be a controversial claim. Has anyone encountered other research or reviews that suggest otherwise? Note that this study is talking about back pain and not back injury.

Portable X-Ray Machines

Have you dealt with injuries related to pushing portable cassettes under patients? Any suggestions for ergonomic solutions?

Vacutainer Lid Remover

This is a link to the website showing a video of the the vacutainer lid remover called the "PLUGGO Decapper".

http://lgpconsulting.com/index.html

I recomended it for a lab although I am not sure if they are ready to make an investment that large yet. It is supposed to remove 50 lids per minute. For high volume labs, this could be helpful to prevent hand pain.

Cover Slip Holders

I recently had an employee say that she was experiencing pain from holding microscope slide cover slips between her thumb and forefinger as well as from popping lids off of vacutainer vials. I have found a product that automates taking off vial tops but I haven't found anything that will help her pick up and hold cover slips. Any suggestions or ideas?