March 3, 2005

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Since deploying a team in December to help nurses and others lift patients, UC Davis Medical Center has received no worker's compensation claims stemming from patient lifts. Requests for the Lift Team have increased from an initial volume of 40 per 24 hours to asmany as 140 for the same period.

The increased demand reflects the praise nurses have heaped on the Lift Team.

"The Lift Team is doing a great job," said Linda Cook, assistant nurse manager for the medical intensive care unit. "They are not only strong and efficient, but they perform their work with enthusiasm and friendliness."

The team is achieving the purpose for which it was formed: the protection of nurses and other staff from pain and injuries incurred from lifting patients.

Since the Lift Team began doing its work, there have been no worker's compensation claims arising from patient lifts, according to Jill Evans-Grinbergs, an analyst in the Worker's Compensation unit of Human Resources. In fiscal year 2002-03, the unit received 38 injury claims related to patient lifting or moving. In fiscal year 2003-04, the unit received 47 injury claims of this variety. All 23 claims from the current fiscal year occurred prior to the debut of the Lift Team.

Shirley Thomas, manager of the Lift Team, said many nurses have reported that, since the Lift Team has been available, they no longer feel the discomfort they previously felt at the end of their shifts.

Patient Care Services and Worker's Compensation joined to create the Lift Team. The Lift Team has a total of nine employees, who work on two-person teams in 12-hour shifts, one during the day and one at night. The team is available 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

Nurses may request help from the team when they have a patient that weighs 200 or more pounds, or requires more than one nurse to lift.

Two of the Lift Team members were working in other positions at the medical center, while the remaining seven were hired from outside of the health system. All of them are men, but Thomas has plans to hire a woman for the team. Team members had been working as firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and studying to become nurses.

Before accepting assignments, Lift Team members received instructions in body mechanics from physical therapists from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. During the initial stage of the team's rollout, physical therapist Janet Ford took time daily to show stretching exercises to the members at the beginning of their shifts, and then interview them at the end of their shifts to determine if they were experiencing pain or discomfort.

Johnny Vera was working in the deli section of a local supermarket before joining the Lift Team, having heard about it from a cousin who works at the hospital. Vera is taking prerequisite courses at Sacramento City College for becoming a registered nurse. He applied for the job because of his interest in working in a hospital setting.

"It's been great, because all of the nurses are really nice to us," Vera said. "They really appreciate it. We get to talk to a lot of patients and their families."

Another team member, Daniel Jones, is a former firefighter at Travis Air Force Base and a current, full-time student at UC Davis.

"I love it here, being able to help patients," Jones said. "You really know you're making a difference."

An unexpected benefit of his job, Jones said, is the camaraderie the team has developed with the nurses, and the knowledge he's gaining from them.

"I'm picking up a lot of medical terminology," Jones said. "I didn't expect the rapport to be as strong with the nurses."

Both Jones and Vera said patients and their families have expressed their appreciation through cards, letters, e-mails and gift certificates.

They also would like more of the nursing staff to use the Lift Team's services, as they find that some nurses are unaware of it. Nurses and other staff also should be aware that they can summon the team even for lifts that cover a short distance, such as from a bed to a chair.

Even before it established a Lift Team, the medical center had available a number of pieces of equipment and materials to help nurses lift patients. Among them are slip sheets placed underneath patients, hydraulic devices and other technologies.