What Elements of the 2013 American Nurses Association Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Standards Are Reflected in State Legislation?

Many professional organizations have endorsed and provided guidance on the implementation of safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) programs. In 2013, the American Nurses Association published the interprofessional standards of SPHM. Eleven states have passed laws to implement statewide SPHM programs. This article describes the evaluation of the quality of SPHM legislation against the ANA standards. Information gleaned from this analysis could be used to strengthen existing legislation, craft new bills in the 39 states without SPHM legislation, and provide direction for national legislation.

Powell-Cope G, Rugs D

Keywords: safe patient handling and mobility, legislation, American Nurses Association, standards

Erratum:
The authors sincerely apologize to the readers of the article What Elements of the 2013 American Nurses Association Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Standards Are Reflected in State Legislation? in the March 2015 (Vol 5, No 1) issue. The Missouri code of state regulations CSR 30-20.097 Safe Patient Handling and Movement in Hospitals enacted in 2011 was left out of our analyses. After careful review of the law, we felt it covered the ANA standards of (2) program, (5) education, (6) patient care, and (8) evaluation. A copy of the standard can be downloaded from http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/19csr/19c30-20.pdf, page 40 at the bottom of the middle column.