Healthcare industry officials and researchers claim that most U.S. hospitals have not acted aggressively when it comes to protecting their nursing staff from injuries due to lifting and moving patients, according to an NPR report.
More than 35,000 back and other injuries that are "severe enough that they have to miss work" occur among nursing employees annually, according to the report, which cites surveys and data by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Additionally, nursing assistants are injured more than other occupations, including warehouse workers, truckers, stock clerks and registered nurses. BLS data on musculoskeletal injury rates for selected occupations in 2013 shows that nursing assistants had an incidence rate of 208.4 nonfatal injuries and illnesses resulting in lost work days, per 10,000 full-time workers.
According to the report, nursing employees primarily get these injuries by moving and lifting patients.
David Michaels, the assistant secretary of Labor who heads the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, told NPR that these nursing staff injuries are "a very important issue," but there isn't much OSHA is able to do to require hospitals to protect nursing employees because its power is limited by Congress and court decisions.
Mr. Michaels told NPR, "A national law requiring protection in hospitals would protect workers and would result in the reduction in musculoskeletal injuries in hospitals."
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