8 Ways To Avoid Nursing Injuries and Safe Patient Handling Techniques
While among the most rewarding specializations, nursing is not a significant challenge. Nurse safety is always a matter of concern because nurses are constantly exposed to multiple risks, sometimes with life-changing or life-ending effects. So to keep you healthy and safe, Wozo Uniforms provide the following tips and approaches on avoiding nursing injuries at the workplace and facilitating safe patient handling movement.
Motivate patients to wear adaptive clothing
Adaptive clothing and footwear allow patients with little to no mobility to get dressed comfortably and safely. For example, it can be challenging to dress a patient who must remain seated or indifferent. Still, adaptive clothing remedies this problem thanks to gracious fabric overlay, large openings, easy-to-use closures, and other convenient features. Talk to your manager or the family of the patient about looking into adaptive clothing options. This is one of the effective ways to prevent any nursing injuries.
Get immunized for the flu
People working in hospitals, medical units, and other care settings are at more significant risk of developing the flu and transmitting the disease to patients and peers. In addition, influenza can be spread by just sneezing and coughing. By obtaining the flu vaccine, you protect yourself and avoid transmitting influenza to your patients, coworkers, and family, facilitating safe patient handling techniques.
Purchase non-slippery shoes
Rigid hospital floors are easy to clean and suitable for preventing contamination, but they pose a slip risk, particularly since they are continuously lubricated down with chemicals. To avoid an accident before it can happen, wear non-slip nursing shoes to work. These shoes have unique soles that are devised to give you extra traction and strength, so you feel highly comfortable during your long shift of standing throughout the day, even while lifting patients. Hence it is advisable to follow this approach to facilitate safe patient movement and handling techniques.
Use a transfer belt to move patients manually
Patients with limited mobility can be shifted or moved manually using a sturdy gait belt or transfer belt that straps around their middle and gives caretakers a firm handhold. Keep in mind that gait belts are assistive mobility devices but not mobility replacement devices and should not be employed to lift or move patients outright. Instead, they can be best used with patients who still carry a little and need extra support.
Learn how to operate assistive devices
Most hospitals equip mechanical lifting devices such as portable hydraulic lifts, but some nurses don't like to use these machines, considering them cumbersome and time-consuming. While these devices might take a little more time, they can surely save you from a severe musculoskeletal injury caused by lifting too much weight at one time. Get trained on operating these assistive lifting devices and use them whenever suitable to avoid any nursing injuries at the workplace.
Lift using correct form
The best way to avoid nursing injuries on the job is to follow this tip very effectively. Whether moving a patient or lifting any heavy box, use sound body mechanics as you move. Set your feet on the ground to ensure they won't slip. Firstly bend at the knees and use your legs to raise the box or object despite your back. Keep your neck, back and hips properly aligned. Bypass overreaching, and bring the thing as close to your body. If the person is heavy, don't be frightened to ask for help from a second person. Taking one wrong move can injure your back!
Practice suitable self-care and get an abundance of sleep
Physical health requires all-around wellness and staying strong. Good physical health includes a holistic approach for staff that provides good nutrition, regular exercise, and fitness. Fatigue negatively affects nurse performance in addition to risking patient safety; nurses who fail to obtain sufficient amounts of sleep are also jeopardizing their health and safety.
Consider a shift in pace
If your specialty demands you to do a lot of lifting work and your back pain becomes chronic, it might be the right time to consider making a change. Switching specialties to a unit that needs less heavy lifting, even if it's only transient, will give your back time to recover and keep your pain from becoming chronic. Chronic pain can inhibit your ability to care for patients and even stop your ability to work altogether, so it's better to take a short break than to keep pushing yourself and then have to quit permanently down the line.
Conclusion-
Nursing safety is paramount for the health and fitness of nurses and their patients. Safe patient handling techniques decrease the chance of injury for both healthcare workers and patients while improving patients' health. Wozo Uniforms are very much concerned for your health and overall wellbeing. Follow the above best approaches and techniques listed by Wozo Uniforms to avoid nursing injuries to keep your patients and yourself safe during your different shifts. You can also find the best antimicrobial scrubs at Wozo Uniforms, which help prevent the transmission of dangerous bacteria from healthcare workers to patients. We all know a famous quote that prevention is better than cure. So, it's much more reasonable to prevent an injury from ever happening in the first place than to treat it after the fact.