title: Proper sling selection and application while using patient lifts.
abstract: In response to staff shortages, an aging clinical workforce, and research on safe patient handling, manufacturers have provided an extensive array of patient-lifting technology, including ceiling, floor-based, and sit-to-stand lifts as well as slings that are required for their use. Expanded choice, however, may pose challenges to both healthcare facilities and individual clinicians. These challenges, if not successfully resolved, can preclude the consistent, safe, and efficient use of patient-handling devices. This article provides nurses and other direct patient care providers with a heightened awareness of the challenges to appropriate sling and lift use in rehabilitation and other clinical settings. A new way to categorize slings is introduced, and guidelines for safely evaluating and using slings for different patient-handling tasks are offered.
authors.affiliation: Patient Safety Center of Inquiry, James A. Haley Veterans Administration Medical Center, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. andrea.baptiste@va.gov
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baptiste
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCleerey
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matz
authors.forename: Celinda P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Evitt
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001494:Baths; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D017770:Lifting; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D009989:Orthotic Devices / Q000145:classification / Q000600:supply & distribution; D018579:Patient Selection; D011187:Posture; D019145:Rehabilitation Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000379:methods