The Development and Implementation of a Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Pilot Program in Acute Care

This study seeks to review the development and implementation of a unit-specific pilot program at a 261-bed community hospital in upstate New York, where some of the strictest safe patient handling legislation has been enacted. Staff members selected from a high-risk unit participated in comprehensive hands-on training with safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) educators. A comparison of pre- and post-implementation data was analyzed to determine the impact of an SPHM program on patient mobility as well as on the employee injury rate. A competency-based education (CBE) approach was examined, as nursing staff were gauged on their ability to increase their SPHM knowledge pre- and post-implementation. Although the study was preliminary, researchers concluded that there are correlations between a successful SPHM program, an increase in patient mobility, and a decrease in employee injuries.

Latvala SM, Masterman R

Keywords: safe patient mobility, competency, patient assessment, evaluation