Safe patient handling addressed by unions in contracts and organizing drives

Nurses and other health care workers face career-threatening, debilitating musculoskeletal injuries when asked by their employers to manually lift or move patients. Most back injuries to nurses don't happen from just one awkward reach, stretch, strain, pull, or from lifting or moving only one patient. The injuries are cumulative. Stresses on the spine over time produce the damage. For patients, injuries during lifts and movement are immediate: Skin tears from being tugged, pulled and shoved and broken bones or even head injuries from falling when a nurse isn't able to break the fall.

These widespread (the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 10 percent of all musculoskeletal injuries requiring days away from work in the private sector were to health care workers) threats to every nurse's livelihood and well-being have become rallying points in union contract negotiations and organizing drives. More nurses are working to secure health and safety protections in their facilities—often requiring the purchase of safe lifting devices and nurse input into the selection of these devices—that will create safe workplaces for health care workers and their patients. And more nurses are working to back national legislation that would make these policies required by law.