Safe Patient Handling is a relatively newer clinical practice concept which demonstrates professional practice.

Though many organizations struggle to define the work parameters for such an injury prevention program, attempts to implement safer practice processes without the necessary program requirements often fail to achieve decreased injury results. If the focus could remain aligned on the program’s primary intent, it would assist organizations to increase the probability of preventing injuries through minimizing the risks related to lifting and moving patients.

If the value of incorporating evidenced-based injury prevention methods to accompany patient-lifts disseminated into clinical settings could be better understood, this detailed level of involvement would become recognized as essential to accomplishing decreased injury results. Moving organizations to understanding the process details for injury prevention in hospital settings is the very definition of what I do. The RP Hawkins Group provides the necessary process guidance through mentorship which is needed to prevent employee injuries through the utilization of patient-lift technology.

Leading an organization designee through mentorship is how I assist facilities to implement newer and safer lifting-practices to care for patients. The basis for our process consists of five fundamental mentoring principles developed with the understanding that for hospital facilities to consistently reduce employee injuries related to patient-lifting, the human resources required to build efficient Safe Patient Handling programs must align with the very same clinical operating system which at times produces patient-lift injuries as an unintended consequence. The five mentoring principles that we at the RP Hawkins Group provide to facilitate the implementation of Safe Patient Handling Programs include:

1 Establishing Safe Patient Handling as a clinical operations process
2 Developing the program lead as a consistent point of reference
3 Guiding the program lead to become efficient in Injury Risk Mitigation
4 Mentoring the lead to be the subject matter expert for Patient-Lift Equipment
5 Leading the injury prevention program through advocacy

In our efforts to assist organizations in defining their Safe Patient Handling programs and the functional roles of those who are involved, we developed these five mentoring principles. Our foundational premise is centered upon developing, implementing, and sustaining the comprehensive Safe Patient Programs that we customize for our partners. Transitioning clinical staff from outdated lifting methodologies to a more modernized style of practice requires a comprehensive system’s approach which supports these concepts for the purposes of long-term sustainability. Our mentoring goal consists of continuously developing our processes until a new patient-lift standard is achieved for our organizations.

In need of support to develop a new Safe Patient Handling Program? Maybe your existing program could use a tune-up? Contact Roric to schedule a program assessment.