1. Resident Lifting System
St. Joseph's General Hospital
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
Presenter:
Sandy Woiden, R.N., B.Sc.N.
Vice President, Residential Services
Prepared for:
Northwest Center for Occupational Health & Safety
Occupational Hazards to Health Care Workers Conference
July 31 – August 1, 2002

5. WCB Injury Rates in Healthcare
More days lost per claim, and higher injury rate than the provincial average for all B.C. industries combined
Strain injuries account for 71% of serious claims
Overexertion accidents (pushing, pulling, lifting & carrying) account for 54% of serious claims
Primary care givers incur 60% of serious injuries
Y2K base injury rates ↑ 193% over 1999

6. Hospital Union Surveys its Members
77% felt ↑ workload over past few years
55% felt mentally or physically stressed
46% had ongoing or chronic pain while working
49% used sick time to recover from muscle strain
or injury at work, other forms of pain, or from
stress in the workplace.

7. credit WCB - financial support Sid Fattedad
HEABC employer support Gary Moser,
Mike Arbogast
OHSAH- evaluation Annalee Yassi
Lisa Ronald
Robert Tate
Michelle Mozel
Jacqueline Sewel
Jerry Spiegel
OH&S Committee-St. Joseph’s
Resident Lifting Steering Committee- St. Joseph’s
Maggie Little - Trillium Lodge

8. Scope Initial: 125 bed Extended Care Unit - resident rooms
- bathing facilities
Subsequent:
Acute - Diagnostic Imaging
- Intensive Care Unit
- All OR’s
- Selective wards, acute care
- Morgue

9. Perspective Qualitative
‘Evaluation of the Resident Lifting System Project, St.Joseph’s Hospital, Comox ‘ prepared Dec OHSAH
Experiential

10. Background Equipment Ceiling lift Floor lifts Slings Policy
Lift vs.Transfer
“No lift” policy
Lift Designation

11. Improved Work Environment

12. Space constrained

13. Space unrestrained

14. Storage

15. High Risk Work Practices Eliminated
Unsafe Transfers
-due to compromising factors:
-resident
-staff
-equipment
Unsafe Lifts
ie: lift off the floor, moving up in chair or bed

16. Chicken lift

17. Mismatched Surface Heights

18. 6 person lift eliminated

19. Ceiling lift to stretcher

20. Repositioning in chair

21. Turning a resident in bed

22. Weighing residents

23. Employee accommodation

24. Quality of Daily Life Residents are able to:
-plan their own day -be spontaneous
-be more independent
-make use of a wider variety of equipment

25. Complex seating

26. Variable chair heights

27. Family response

28. Reduction in resident anxiety

29. Resident operating lift on their own

30. Retirement of the bed pan

31. Appreciative Resident

32. Emergency Lowering Simple Maintenance Resident Comfort
Features
Emergency Lowering
Simple Maintenance
Resident Comfort

33. Power failure release

34. Simplicity of maintenance

35. Resident Comfort
Floor Lifts have disadvantages that are eliminated with an Overhead Lifting System

36. Floor lift spreader bar

37. Bumping legs

38. Privacy adaptation for ceiling track gantry

39. Other Applications Intensive Care Unit Diagnostic Imaging
Operating Rooms
Acute Care
Morgue

40. ICU repositioning of patients

41. Options to fixed power units

42. Application in outpatients and radiology

43. OR-urology

44. OR orthopedics

45. Residents Employees Financial Reversal of MSI spiral
Benefits
Residents
Employees
Financial
Reversal of MSI spiral

46. Effectiveness of Installing Overhead Ceiling Lifts (AAOHN Journal 2002; 50(3), 120-127)
Summary:
Installation of ceiling lifts in combination with an appropriate training program is effective in reducing the number of musculoskeletal injures (MSI) from lifting and transferring patients in an extended care unit.

47. It is important to divide injury types into tasks being performed at the time of the injury to evaluate the effectiveness of specific types of patient handling equipment.
Assessing subjective views of both staff and patients is essential to an effective evaluation.

48. Implementing a Resident Lifting System in an Extended Care Hospital (AAOHN Journal 2002; 50(3), )
Summary:
1. Implementing mechanical resident lifting equipment in an extended care facility produced payback from direct savings alone within 4 years. Payback occurred more quickly when the effect of indirect savings or the trend to rising compensation costs was considered.

49. 2. Combining the observations of the occupational health nurses related to staff well being with relevant cost-benefit data is useful in influencing decision-makers and in securing funding for prevention measures.
3. Clear identification of a viewpoint is an important part of an economic evaluation and cost-benefit analysis.

50. Thank you for inviting me!!
Come and visit our beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island
Skiing
Fishing
Golf