Nurses union pushing for patient moving equipment requirements
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Hoping to make hospitals healthier for the people who handle patients, the state's nurses' union on Tuesday pushed for a state law that would require hospitals to buy equipment for moving patients.
"I just think there's no commitment to purchasing the appropriate equipment," Beth Piknick, a nurse at Cape Cod Hospital and the former president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, told the Public Health Committee on Tuesday. She said, "I beg you to stop making nurses patients."
Last year the Massachusetts Hospital Ergonomics Task Force reported through the Department of Public Health that musculoskeletal disorders were some of the most common injuries suffered by hospital workers, and musculoskeletal injuries among hospital workers were "consistently higher" in Massachusetts than nationwide.
In 2010, the patient-handling musculoskeletal injury rate for Bay State hospital workers was 7.3 per 1,000 full-time workers compared to 4.1 per 1,000 nationwide, the report said.
The bill filed by Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler and Easton Rep. Claire Cronin would require hospitals to develop a safe patient handling policy, undertake a needs assessment and obtain patient handling equipment deemed necessary, the nurses association said in written testimony.
The Massachusetts Hospital Association, which jockeys between nurses seeking more worker protections and insurers seeking lower hospital costs, opposes the legislation (S 1124/H 1914), saying it would ignore the particulars of each facility.
"If enacted, this legislation would require all licensed facilities - hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities - to purchase new, costly equipment and expend additional significant resources, potentially even requiring building re-design, service re-location or service closures in order to ensure compliance," Massachusetts Hospital Association Vice President of Government Advocacy Michael Sroczynski told the News Service in a statement. "Such a blanket mandate poses conflicts with existing standards and limits the ability of organizations to be appropriately responsive to evolving patient populations and the realities of existing structures."
Sroczynski said the association prefers that the Department of Public Health work on patient handling protocols.
Piknick said she was injured about 20 years ago helping a patient into a bed, and she was out of work for two-and-a-half years, losing the ability to play racquetball or jog without experiencing pain.
"It's just sinful the things that have happened to me," Piknick said. She said the amount of patient handling equipment in a given hospital unit is "very haphazard," and varied.
Dan Rec, a registered nurse at Faulkner Hospital, said his hospital "does a pretty good job," providing equipment, including HoverMatts for moving patients. He said the equipment is beneficial for patients and "cost-effective" as hospitals avoid costs associated with injured workers.
A brochure for the HoverMatt says a "cushion of air beneath the mattress enables caregivers to safely transfer patients without lifting or straining."
"By reducing injuries related to lateral transfers and repositioning, the HoverMatt air transfer system helps to improve staff retention while meeting legislative guidelines for safe patient handling," the Pennsylvania-based HoverTech International advertises.
"They're lifting huge amounts of weight every day," said Chandler, a Worcester Democrat, who said her mother and aunt were nurses. She said, "If you went to the hospital right now, two possibly little women would have to move you from a gurney to a bed; from a bed to a gurney."
Sen. Jason Lewis, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, questioned whether the equipment and patient handling was the subject of collective bargaining.
"Health and safety is a major part of our union negotiations," David Schildmeier, spokesman for the nurses association, told the News Service. He said the safety equipment should not be limited to hospitals with unionized workforces and noted obese patients can weigh hundreds of pounds.
About 23,000 nurses are represented by the MNA and the association represents nurses in 51 of the state's 67 acute care hospitals and a small number of the state's nursing homes, Schildmeier said.
Piknick said, despite the savings from avoiding worker injuries, hospitals are reluctant to add the patient handling equipment.
"You can ask for anything you want," Piknick told the News Service. She said, "Do they agree to it? No."
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