WORKER INJURIES IN NURSING HOMES: IS SAFE PATIENT HANDLING LEGISLATION THE SOLUTION?

In 2012, nursing homes were considered the most dangerous workplaces in the United States. While other industries have guidelines that limit manual lifting of stable objects to ≤50 pounds, the same is not so in the nursing home industry where residents requiring physical assistance may weigh over 250 pounds and where the prevalence of obesity among residents is increasing. Safe patient handling legislation in nursing homes has been enacted in nine of the United States since 2005 (Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas). This paper reviews the problem of worker injuries in nursing homes, describes the legislation passed to address the problem, and reviews the data available on the effectiveness of the legislation. No national studies evaluating the effectiveness of safe patient handling state policies on nursing home injuries exists, although the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health has recently funded a national evaluation.