A Planning Playbook for Opening a New Orthopedic ASC
The ASC market continues its rapid growth. In 2023, roughly 116 new ASCs opened in the U.S., many of which were orthopedic-specific in nature....
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By: Teresa Boynton
Published: 11/14/2019
As the ergonomics and injury prevention specialist for 11 hospitals, I was responsible for tracking the causes of the most frequent and severe injuries by department, by job title and by body part, and using this information to develop action plans focused on decreasing injury rates. During my career, I worked with numerous surgical team members who suffered workplace injuries associated with
My job let me identify not only how your nurses and techs can get hurt, but also how you can look out for their well-being as they focus more on patient care than on protecting themselves from harm.
Do your part by observing nurses in action to identify potential dangers they might not realize they face. Distribute department- or unit-specific (pre-op, OR, PACU) confidential surveys. Ask team members about areas of discomfort or pain (lower back, upper back, neck, shoulders, legs) associated with specific actions and physically difficult tasks that cause them the most discomfort or that they consider the highest risk.
Musculoskeletal injuries are a recurring problem among OR nurses, with as many as 66.1% suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (osmag.net/YUS3tv). Holding a patient’s limb in place for extended periods can even take a toll. A patient’s leg typically weighs about 16% of their total body weight. If a patient weighs 250 lbs., a nurse may be required to lift and hold about 39 lbs., which is beyond a safe limit, especially if the nurse has to bend forward when grasping the leg.
Slips and falls also continue to be a recurring problem. I investigated one case where an anesthesiology technician was working between 2 ORs. She walked quickly out of one OR and into the hallway, which had just been mopped, slipped and fell and tore her meniscus. Unfortunately, her surgery and recovery did not go well.
Conduct a thorough investigation of all employee injuries, including a standardized interview process for the injured employee, the employee’s manager and direct supervisor, and any co-workers involved in the incident. If opportunities and action items for preventing similar injuries are identified, discuss the actions with appropriate administrators and committees, and quickly implement them.
A “zero injury” initiative is achievable. If the program, system, processes and procedures you’ve implemented are effective, you should see an initial decrease in the severity of injuries, followed by a decrease in the frequency of incidents. This data should be tracked over a period of at least 2 to 3 years.
By implementing a good data tracking and trending system, appropriate injury prevention action plans, successful employee feedback programs and regular observations or audits, you should be able to reach and maintain staff safety goals. OSM
Implement a staff safety program that includes standardized and consistent methods for ensuring the accurate reporting of injuries, and the documenting and compiling of all employee injuries and near-misses. This program should include:
Don't make the mistake of thinking you've solved your injury problem when injury rates decrease after a few months. When rates spike again, it might be because your safety solutions weren't fully implemented or weren't as effective as you initially thought.
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