Nursing employees have historically been taught to use "proper body mechanics" to safely lift and move patients, but researchers concluded there is no safe way to manually complete the task, according to an NPR report.
William Marras, director of the Spine Research Institute at Ohio State University, and his colleagues reached that conclusion after using electronic gadgetry to look at hospital staff members' backs as they move patients, according to the report. Mr. Marras said in the report that the safe approach is for hospital staff to use machines and other equipment, such as a ceiling hoist, to lift and move patients. Mr. Marras' studies also found that the task is still not safe when two or more nursing employees lift a patient together.
Although it's been 16 years since Mr. Marras and his colleagues published their first results, researchers in the federal government have since reached similar conclusions through their own studies, according to the report. Groups such as the American Nurses Association and the National Nurses United union also support the conclusion that nursing staff must use proper equipment in order to safely move and lift patients, according to the report.
However, according to NPR, "administrators at most hospitals still do not follow the findings."
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