ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS

To improve the quality of care, as of October 2008, The Centers for Medicaid/Medicare (CMS) enforced the ruling that the cost of additional care related to a patient fall or the development of stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer after admission will not be reimbursable.  This change along with the nationwide nursing shortage, the rise in the number of obese Americans clearly illustrates the need for integrating handling devices into the plan of care.

Prevent, Inc. is now initiating the "Get a Lift!" Safe Patient Handling protocols into patient care interventions as well as creating an employee based safe handling policy and procedure.   Developing protocols from both the patient care and employee perspective further reinforces the use of patient handling devices.

Often, Prevent, Inc. is asked, "how do you achieve caregiver compliance with the handling devices?"  To achieve care giver compliance with the use of handling devices you must develop care giver competence with the use of the handling devices at the bedside.  To develop the care giver skills, Prevent, Inc.'s experienced, safe handling nurses' focus is approximately 10% on training and 80% mentoring of the care givers at the bedside.

 

Prevent, Inc. has identified that the following practices create the most effective and sustainable  safe handling programs:

1. Have a Chief Nurse OfficerCNO - The CNO needs to make it clear to everyone that this is an important initiative that will benefit both patients and staff and that the investment is well worth the effort. In addition the CNO also needs to be sure that the initiative has the support of the entire senior team who promotes safe handling practices as an expected part of the standard of care.

2. Designate a task force.  A group of people in the organization who are passionate about SPH and have knowledge of the organization, and can rally people around the cause. to include nurse managers, radiology representatives, education, transport staff who are responsible for overseeing the implementation and follow up of the Safe Handling Program.

3. Hire experts who do not sell or manufacture handling equipmentPrevent, Inc will recommend the right amount and type of patient handling equipment. to project the organization's needs.

4. Develop a Safe Handling Policy and ProcedurePrevent, Inc's service includes a working meeting to develop the first draft of the policy. customized for the organization.

5. Develop a marketing strategyPrevent, Inc provides articles, resources and marketing products to achieve this goal. to inform caregivers, patients and the community of the benefits of the program.

6. Provide a computer basedPrevent, Inc's internet based module is customized to provide an overview of the hospital's policy and procedure, and brief videos of the equipment function. introductory module regarding the structure and expectations of the Safe Handling program for all caregivers.

7. Implementation hands-on trainingPrevent, Inc's program provides training modules for all areas of the hospital - all training is done by professional nurses. Return demonstrations to validate competency are a must! for all caregivers by safe handling expert level professional nurses.

8. Create internal resources by mentoring safe handling  super users by training and mentoring of designated staff.

9. Reinforce hands-on training by mentoring caregiversEach follow-up visit, Prevent, Inc's professional nurses provide hands-on support to the caregivers. at the bedside and by integrating the patient handling equipment into the plan of care.

10. Review/audit established Best PracticesPrevent, Inc provides organizations with tools and resources to monitor the effectiveness of the processes. Follow-up visits are designed to develop action plans for areas which need strengthening. of the program frequently to maintain effectiveness.

Updated: 10/09

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