Reducing Patient Movement-Related Injuries Through the Development, Implementation, and Sustainability of a Comprehensive Safe Patient Handling and Movement Program

It is well known that patient movement-related injuries plague many healthcare institutions. This article provides a framework for establishing an individualized safe patient handling and movement program driven by the process of quality improvement and root cause analysis. Prior to the commencement of Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital’s (MRH) safe patient handling and movement program, the cost of patient movement-related injuries (ie, transfers and repositioning) totaled over $1 million, including injuries involving patient transfers that amounted to $782 761. Following the development, implementation, and sustainability of a comprehensive safe patient handling and movement program at MRH, the cost of patient transfer-related injuries declined by nearly 97% in 6 years and the overall injury rate by 52%.

Butler LA, Claycomb M, Stutzman S, Shutzer-Hill D

Keywords: safe patient handling program, root cause analysis, quality improvement