RE: Pre-employment screenings

[Guest guest]

Honest assessment of the physical effects on caregivers of handling physically

needy patients is both necessary and rarely accomplished. No surprise, since

objective examination of injury potential associated with routine patient

lifting, repositioning, transferring, and generally giving assistance in

movement, shows these activities to be quite risky. (According to Audrey ,

PhD---she wrote a very thorough guidebook on the subject called Safe Patient

Handling and Movement---12 percent of nurses leave their profession each year

due to back injuries!) What to do? Nurses, aides, therapists and others are

frequently faced with dangerous and apparently inescapable tasks.

The issue is not only weight of course, but complexity, unpredictability,

cooperativeness of the subjects, environment, fitness of the caregiver, and so

on. Planning for all those contingencies is difficult to say the least, and is

understandably scary for hospitals and other institutions since any change from

the current paradigm of caregiver lifts looks wildly expensive and time

consuming. A 50-pound box-lift pre-employment screen, while more than many

institutions are doing to assess risk, is just not going to cut it. And training

on lifting techniques is not a panacea either. (Some believe that training can

actually make things worse by creating a false sense of security.)

Check 's book. And get ready to face some really tough issues and huge

roadblocks to implementation of corrective measures.

You can find a preview of the book here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=15g4yD9yR2YC & printsec=frontcover & dq=inauthor:%2\

2Audrey++(PhD.)%22 & hl=en#v=onepage & q & f=false

Dave Milano, PT, Rehabilitation Director

Laurel Health System

________________________________

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of

tbardua

Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 7:51 PM

To: PTManager

Subject: Pre-employment screenings

For all new hospital employees we perform a pre-employment screen. Part of this

includes a lift and lift/carry section that we match the lifting requirements of

each jobs physical demand form. We are looking at revamping how we perform this

and I would love some input. For example, some of our nursing positions require

a 50 pound lift with assistance. We usually use a small wooden box for lifting

but the equipment we have for this is not really feasable to lift with two

people. Also, if this is being judged as the weight of a patient it may not

always be split 50-50. What type of equipment do you use for this and how do you

determine how much assistance you give the employee? Also, some of the nurse

managers seem to think the 50 pounds with assist is reasonable for a patient,

but in discussing this with HR the question was what if a patient passes out and

you are alone? How much weight should someone be expected to " manage " so to

speak if they are g oing to lower a patient to the floor or bed/chair or attempt

to catch them? Obviously all patients are going to be different weights and need

different amounts of assistance, but for the purpose of this type of screen i

would love to hear what this board thinks is a reasonable amount that an

employee should be able to do.

Thanks in advance,

Todd Bardua

Director of PT

Bloomsburg Hospital

Bloomsburg PA

________________________________

Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this electronic message is

privileged and confidential information intended for the use of the individual

or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby

notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copy of this message is

strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error,

please delete the message immediately and notify us by telephone. Thank you.

[Guest guest]

Honest assessment of the physical effects on caregivers of handling physically

needy patients is both necessary and rarely accomplished. No surprise, since

objective examination of injury potential associated with routine patient

lifting, repositioning, transferring, and generally giving assistance in

movement, shows these activities to be quite risky. (According to Audrey ,

PhD---she wrote a very thorough guidebook on the subject called Safe Patient

Handling and Movement---12 percent of nurses leave their profession each year

due to back injuries!) What to do? Nurses, aides, therapists and others are

frequently faced with dangerous and apparently inescapable tasks.

The issue is not only weight of course, but complexity, unpredictability,

cooperativeness of the subjects, environment, fitness of the caregiver, and so

on. Planning for all those contingencies is difficult to say the least, and is

understandably scary for hospitals and other institutions since any change from

the current paradigm of caregiver lifts looks wildly expensive and time

consuming. A 50-pound box-lift pre-employment screen, while more than many

institutions are doing to assess risk, is just not going to cut it. And training

on lifting techniques is not a panacea either. (Some believe that training can

actually make things worse by creating a false sense of security.)

Check 's book. And get ready to face some really tough issues and huge

roadblocks to implementation of corrective measures.

You can find a preview of the book here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=15g4yD9yR2YC & printsec=frontcover & dq=inauthor:%2\

2Audrey++(PhD.)%22 & hl=en#v=onepage & q & f=false

Dave Milano, PT, Rehabilitation Director

Laurel Health System

________________________________

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of

tbardua

Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 7:51 PM

To: PTManager

Subject: Pre-employment screenings

For all new hospital employees we perform a pre-employment screen. Part of this

includes a lift and lift/carry section that we match the lifting requirements of

each jobs physical demand form. We are looking at revamping how we perform this

and I would love some input. For example, some of our nursing positions require

a 50 pound lift with assistance. We usually use a small wooden box for lifting

but the equipment we have for this is not really feasable to lift with two

people. Also, if this is being judged as the weight of a patient it may not

always be split 50-50. What type of equipment do you use for this and how do you

determine how much assistance you give the employee? Also, some of the nurse

managers seem to think the 50 pounds with assist is reasonable for a patient,

but in discussing this with HR the question was what if a patient passes out and

you are alone? How much weight should someone be expected to " manage " so to

speak if they are g oing to lower a patient to the floor or bed/chair or attempt

to catch them? Obviously all patients are going to be different weights and need

different amounts of assistance, but for the purpose of this type of screen i

would love to hear what this board thinks is a reasonable amount that an

employee should be able to do.

Thanks in advance,

Todd Bardua

Director of PT

Bloomsburg Hospital

Bloomsburg PA

________________________________

Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this electronic message is

privileged and confidential information intended for the use of the individual

or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby

notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copy of this message is

strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error,

please delete the message immediately and notify us by telephone. Thank you.

[Guest guest]

Dave, thank you for the reminder on encouraging safer patient handling

practices, even with regard to pre-employment screens. As per NIOSH, 35 lbs is

the identified safe lifting limit for patient care handlers, in an ideal patient

handling situation, many of which are not. Those who design pre-employment

screens for nursing staff do have a challenge in being able to adequately

capture the multiple and varied components of mobilizing patients. One thing to

consider in the design is integrating the use of patient lifts, especially for

facilities that already have safe patient handling policies in place. Thus, for

these facilities, integrating the lifts during pre-employment screens would be a

better reflection of the job demands, as well as a more consistent message of

their patient handling practices.

Marissa Pentico, MS, OT/L

Ergonomics Coordinator

Duke Occupational and Environmental Safety Office

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf Of

Milano, Dave

Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 10:18 AM

To: PTManager

Subject: RE: Pre-employment screenings

Honest assessment of the physical effects on caregivers of handling physically

needy patients is both necessary and rarely accomplished. No surprise, since

objective examination of injury potential associated with routine patient

lifting, repositioning, transferring, and generally giving assistance in

movement, shows these activities to be quite risky. (According to Audrey ,

PhD---she wrote a very thorough guidebook on the subject called Safe Patient

Handling and Movement---12 percent of nurses leave their profession each year

due to back injuries!) What to do? Nurses, aides, therapists and others are

frequently faced with dangerous and apparently inescapable tasks.

The issue is not only weight of course, but complexity, unpredictability,

cooperativeness of the subjects, environment, fitness of the caregiver, and so

on. Planning for all those contingencies is difficult to say the least, and is

understandably scary for hospitals and other institutions since any change from

the current paradigm of caregiver lifts looks wildly expensive and time

consuming. A 50-pound box-lift pre-employment screen, while more than many

institutions are doing to assess risk, is just not going to cut it. And training

on lifting techniques is not a panacea either. (Some believe that training can

actually make things worse by creating a false sense of security.)

Check 's book. And get ready to face some really tough issues and huge

roadblocks to implementation of corrective measures.

You can find a preview of the book here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=15g4yD9yR2YC & printsec=frontcover & dq=inauthor:%2\

2Audrey++(PhD.)%22 & hl=en#v=onepage & q & f=false

Dave Milano, PT, Rehabilitation Director

Laurel Health System

________________________________

From: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>

[mailto:PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf

Of tbardua

Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 7:51 PM

To: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>

Subject: Pre-employment screenings

For all new hospital employees we perform a pre-employment screen. Part of this

includes a lift and lift/carry section that we match the lifting requirements of

each jobs physical demand form. We are looking at revamping how we perform this

and I would love some input. For example, some of our nursing positions require

a 50 pound lift with assistance. We usually use a small wooden box for lifting

but the equipment we have for this is not really feasable to lift with two

people. Also, if this is being judged as the weight of a patient it may not

always be split 50-50. What type of equipment do you use for this and how do you

determine how much assistance you give the employee? Also, some of the nurse

managers seem to think the 50 pounds with assist is reasonable for a patient,

but in discussing this with HR the question was what if a patient passes out and

you are alone? How much weight should someone be expected to " manage " so to

speak if they are g oing to lower a patient to the floor or bed/chair or attempt

to catch them? Obviously all patients are going to be different weights and need

different amounts of assistance, but for the purpose of this type of screen i

would love to hear what this board thinks is a reasonable amount that an

employee should be able to do.

Thanks in advance,

Todd Bardua

Director of PT

Bloomsburg Hospital

Bloomsburg PA

________________________________

Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this electronic message is

privileged and confidential information intended for the use of the individual

or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby

notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copy of this message is

strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error,

please delete the message immediately and notify us by telephone. Thank you.