California requires general acute care hospitals to have a comprehensive plan to prevent patient handling injuries (PHIs) among employees. The safe patient handling (SPH) law took effect in 2012. This study assessed the impact of the SPH law on workers’ compensation claims for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among California hospital workers.
Methods:
We used California Workers’ Compensation Information System data from 2007-2016 and analyzed claims for MSDs that occurred in acute care hospitals compared with nursing and residential care facilities. MSD claims...
Background: Safe patient handling legislation has been enacted in 11 states in the United States to protect healthcare workers from patient handing injuries. Implementations and outcomes may vary across hospitals by the characteristics of the institution.
Objectives: This study was to investigate the changes in safe patient handling programs in hospitals, and nurses' perceptions, work practices, and musculoskeletal symptoms by hospital characteristics after the passage of California's safe patient handling legislation.
Workplace violence (WV) is a significant and growing problem for health care workers. Increased recognition of the need for improved protections has led to policy initiatives at the state and federal levels, including national Joint Commission requirements that went into effect January 2022. California's WV prevention legislation was phased in during 2017-2018 and requires hospitals to use a new incident reporting system, the Workplace Violent Incident Reporting System (WVIRS) for Hospitals. We analyzed WVIRS data collected during the first three years of its implementation, July 1,...
Background: Musculoskeletal injuries from patient handling are significant problems among health care workers. In California, legislation requiring hospitals to implement safe patient handling (SPH) programs was enacted in 2011. This qualitative study explored workers' experiences and perceptions about the law, their hospital's SPH policies and programs, patient handling practices, and work environment.
Methods: Three focus groups were conducted with 21 participants (19 nurses and 2 patient handling specialists) recruited from 12 hospitals located...
