Musculoskeletal Injuries In Nursing Care

Nursing is one of the most dangerous professions in terms of the rate of musculoskeletal injuries caused when moving patients. There is a significant amount spent on workman’s compensation claims related to these injuries. At the same time that hospitals face expenses related to workman’s compensation claims, hospitals face the challenge of only being paid the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rate for hospitalizations based on Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups (MS-DRGs) rather than full amounts which are billed to insurance companies and uninsured individuals (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2016a; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2016b). If a Medicare patient’s hospital length of stay is longer than the MS-DRG average, the hospital must absorb the added …show more content…
In 2010 the rate of musculoskeletal injuries for every 10,000 employees was 249 for nursing assistants, which was greater than the all-industry injury average by a factor of more than seven (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, n.d.). In 2013 the American Nurses Association published their standards for safety in moving patients and encouraged the implementation of policies to facilitate mechanical lifts rather than manually lifting patients (American Nurses Association, 2013). By 2014 musculoskeletal injuries improved somewhat for nursing assistants decreasing from seven time the all-industry average to five times the average, or 205 per 10,000, (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). Musculoskeletal injuries continue to be a problem for the nursing profession and hospital workers. Hospitals are implementing mechanical lifts and encouraging a culture of safety; however, more can be done to decrease the rate of musculoskeletal injuries and protect staff and