Prioritizing safe patient handling: The American Nurses Association's Handle With Care Campaign.
Nurses continue to suffer debilitating injuries secondary to manual patient handling. Patient care ergonomics has emerged to redesign patient care with reduced exposure to physical hazards. Safe patient handling programs are being increasingly accepted by healthcare organizations to prevent occupational injury and to enhance patient safety. The authors discuss national-level efforts to promote patient care ergonomics principles and safe patient handling programs and their impact on nursing shortages and quality patient care.
de Castro
Arnold B
AB
Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612-7260, USA. butch@uic.edu
Hagan
Pamela
P
Nelson
Audrey
A
D000575:American Nurses' Association; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006804:Ergonomics; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting / Q000009:adverse effects; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000458:organization & administration; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014489:United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration