Safe Patient Handling and Mobility
Moving patients and residents without injuring them or yourself, for nurses, care aides, therapists and porters: why manual patient lifting causes so many back and shoulder injuries, provincial requirements and safe patient handling policies, assessing patient mobility and choosing the right method, ceiling and floor lifts, sit-to-stand aids, slings and their inspection, slide sheets and lateral transfer devices, repositioning in bed, falls and controlled lowering, bariatric care, handling in home care, and building a no-manual-lift program on a unit.
HSE-391 12 lessons · 4 h 52 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Safety Training
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Explain why manual patient handling causes so many back and shoulder injuries, why body mechanics training alone does not prevent them, and how the patient handling guideline limits the load on one worker.
- Describe the rules that apply to patient handling in Ontario, including the general duties of the OHSA, Regulation 67/93, the long-term care rules and recognized guidance, and the elements of a strong safe patient handling policy.
- Assess a patient's mobility with a structured bedside tool and turn the result into a handling method, equipment and care plan.
- Operate ceiling and floor lifts safely, including pre-use checks, positioning, emergency lowering and the staffing each lift needs.
- Select, fit and inspect slings of the right type and size, and take damaged or unlabelled slings out of service.
- Decide when a sit-to-stand or standing aid is suitable and use it safely, including reassessing patients whose ability changes.
- Reposition patients in bed and perform lateral transfers using friction-reducing and air-assisted devices, explaining why these tasks are hazardous.
- Respond safely to a falling or fallen patient: avoid catching, use controlled lowering only when in position, assess before moving, and use safe methods to get a patient up.
- Plan the care of bariatric patients, checking every item's safe working load, arranging equipment, space and staff before arrival, and protecting the patient's dignity.
- Assess homes and clients in home and community care, produce a handling plan, handle refusals and family situations, and match visit schedules to the plan.
- Keep patient handling equipment available and safe through planning, storage, charging, inspection, maintenance, sling management and availability audits.
- Build, measure and sustain a safe patient handling program on a unit using a cycle of commitment, assessment, equipment, training, daily use, measurement and review.
Course content
12 lessons · 4 h 52 min total · final exam
- 1 Why patient handling injures workers 29 min · quiz
- 2 Policies, laws and standards for patient handling 22 min · quiz
- 3 Assessing patient mobility 23 min · quiz
- 4 Mechanical lifts 24 min · quiz
- 5 Slings: selection, fit and inspection 24 min · quiz
- 6 Sit-to-stand and standing aids 22 min · quiz
- 7 Lateral transfers and repositioning 24 min · quiz
- 8 Falls and controlled lowering 24 min · quiz
- 9 Bariatric patients 26 min · quiz
- 10 Patient handling in home and community care 25 min · quiz
- 11 Equipment care and availability 24 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: building a safe patient handling program 25 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Moving patients and residents without injuring them or yourself, for nurses, care aides, therapists and porters: why manual patient lifting causes so many back and shoulder injuries, provincial requirements and safe patient handling policies, assessing patient mobility and choosing the right method, ceiling and floor lifts, sit-to-stand aids, slings and their inspection, slide sheets and lateral transfer devices, repositioning in bed, falls and controlled lowering, bariatric care, handling in home care, and building a no-manual-lift program on a unit.