Case Study: I’m a registered nurse; now, a back-injured registered nurse with a cumulative trauma spinal injury from ten years of lifting and moving patients. I worked at an acute care hospital on medical/surgical, telemetry, and intermediate care units. The patients were generally elderly and acutely ill with a variety of cardiac, medical, and surgical conditions. Many were unable to move themselves up or turn side- to-side in bed, to sit up, stand up, or transfer to the chair or bedside commode without being physically pulled, lifted, or occasionally, even picked up and carried. Confused patients sometimes resisted, increasing the strain. Much heavy lifting was required. I always had low back pain for years however, it got exaggerated when I tripped over in my ward because of the wiring of the health monitor. I was informing my manager to remove the wires for more than 2 weeks. “I first experienced severe low back and leg pain when I slipped in my ward while working with the patient while walking through my kitchen during a scheduled day off. I could not walk, sit, and hardly move. I had to call and report that I could not come to work because of back pain. Other than a brief unsuccessful attempt a few months later, I have been unable to return to floor nursing. I’ve been seen by neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and a chiropractor. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, lumbar strain, and bulging or herniated discs. I’ve had two MRIs, two discograms, a series of lumbar blocks, and ultimately, an anterior lumbar fusion of L4/L5 and L5/S1, with donor bone grafts to replace the discs, and posterior fixation with four titanium screws. The ACC workers’ compensation battle took years before the decision came in my favour that my injury was work related. I had to fight hard before being permitted for modified light duty. “Almost everything in my life has been altered by being back-injured. I’ve been unable to do many things that I formerly did with ease. I can no longer flip a mattress or even assist to turn a mattress. I need help changing sheets on the bed. I can’t vacuum as before and either let it go, get help, or wait until my analgesic kicks in and then do as much as I can. Sitting for any length of time is painful. Driving is painful because of the vibration and seated position—I drove over 5000 miles with the injury for multiple appointments. I’m not able to pick up small children—the first thing that upset me greatly was realizing that I may not be able to pick up a potential grandchild someday. “I hope you recognize the healthcare worker’s vulnerability and are inspired to work toward zero-lift policies, lift teams, and permanent modified light duty for injured clinicians. Caring for patients and receiving their trust touches us deeply. I loved being a hospital floor nurse. Still, my experience as a back-injured nurse has provided the incentive to learn and the motivation to speak out. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of the larger effort for reduction of back injuries to healthcare workers.” Charney W & Hudson a (Eds). Back Injury among Healthcare Workers: Causes, Solutions, and Impacts. Boca raton: CrC Press. 2004. Read the above Case Study, ‘When My Job Breaks my Back’ and take notes to prepare a healthcare assignment answering the following questions. What were the issues leading to the registered nurses’ injuries? Could the incident related injuries have been managed differently by the workplace? Did the workplace follow correct incident management procedure? What are the issues relating to workers compensation? What is the role of ACC in workers compensation and return to work programmes? How did the workplace breach the Health and Safety at Work Act? From the perspective of the organisation, what are the strategic elements of a Return to Work Plan? e.g. individualised communication with health professionals working with the employee; return to work goals.
Subject Name: Health Care
Level: Undergraduate
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