Nurse aides are often forced to lift residents alone when assistance is not immediately available. With sicker and more dependent residents, nursing homes have become more hazardous in terms of injuries. Employers Do Not Take Safety Concerns Seriously Rather than hiring additional staff or redesigning work to eliminate hazards, nursing home employershave tended to favor gimmicks that do little to prevent injuries. Much of the focus has been on teaching proper lifting techniques, which are of limited use in patient care settings. Nurse aides generally do not use the techniques outlined in the program, either because there are not enough staff on hand or because they have not received adequate instruction in the techniques.
Back belts are a favorite device of nursing home operators.
But there is no evidence that they reduce the hazards of repeated lifting, pushing, twisting and bending. Because public programs pay for most nursing home care, it is taxpayers who ultimately bear the burden of unsafe working conditions in the nursing home industry. Taxpayers pay for more than half of the nursing home care provided in the United States, primarily through the Medicaid program . Nursing home industry executives often resist hiring additional staff or purchasing safety equipment because of the cost. The staggering workers' compensation insurance rates paid by nursing home employers are a reflection of the magnitude and severity of injuries and illnesses in nursing homes.