There are more than 35,000 back and other injuries among nursing employees every year from moving, lifting patients, according to an article on the NPR website.
Nursing assistants and orderlies each suffer roughly three times the rate of back and other musculoskeletal injuries as construction laborers.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that nursing assistants are injured more than any other occupation. The reason for most of these injuries is moving and lifting patients.
Some hospitals have reduced lifting injuries among nursing staff by up to 80 percent — using an approach often called "safe patient handling," according to the article. They use special machinery to lift patients, similar to motorized hoists that factory workers use to move heavy parts. But most hospitals have not taken similar action.
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