| Principal Investigator: | Marsha Doughtery, BSN, RN |
| Organization: | Harris Methodist Hospital of Fort Worth |
Abstract
Problem
Job satisfaction is of primary concern of employers today especially in the face of a nursing shortage and aging workforce. Job satisfaction is negatively related to physically demanding work practices.
Evidence
As cited by Nelson and Baptiste (2006), an estimated 12% of nursing personnel will transfer to a less demanding work environment and another 12–18% will leave the profession due to back pain. A biomedical study performed by Marras indicates that most manual patient handling tasks place health care workers at a 76% risk of injury (Charney, Simmons, Lary, Metz, 2006). Nurses consistently identify that improving the work environment improves satisfaction and is one method to address the nursing shortage (Albaugh, 2005).
Strategy
Safe patient handling strategies outlined by Nelson et al. (2006) after a review of the evidence was implemented on a 36 bed Medical/Surgical unit in a 600 bed acute care hospital. The safe patient handling program was continually re-enforced with staff, evaluated, and re-adjusted based on those evaluations.
Practice Change
No patient tasks are performed in which the forces on the spine are excessive. Mechanical devices were fully implemented for patient handling tasks.
Evaluation
Implementation of this program was difficult. Nurses believed that using mechanical devices was inconvenient and time-consuming. Once fully enmeshed in the program, few nurses on this unit today would manually lift patients as they had done in the past.
Results
Employee injury costs, lost/restricted workdays related to patient handling went to zero. Employee turnover decreased and anecdotal stories of increased staff satisfaction were noted. A secondary benefit to patients was noted in the decrease in the occurrence of pressure ulcers on that nursing unit (from 5.4%–0%).
Recommendations
A decline in occupational stress by reducing physical demands will increase nursing satisfaction leading to an increase in the recruitment/retention of nursing personnel.
Bibliography
- Albaugh, J. (2005). Resolving the nursing shortage: Nursing job satisfaction on the rise. Urologic Nursing 25 (4), 293–295.
- Charney, W., Simmons, B., lary, M. & Metz, S. (2006). Zero lift programs in small rural hospitals in Washington State. American Association of Occupational Health Nursing 54(8), 355–358.
- Nelson, A., & Baptiste, A. (2006). Evidence-based practices for safe patient handling and movement. Orthopaedic Nursing. 25(6), 366–379.