Moving violations
Working to prevent on-the-job injuries

by Susan Trossman, RN

Check that monitor -- twist. Silence that alarm - strain. Assess that chest tube drainage -- stoop. Recheck that blood pressure -- bend. Grab that chart -- reach. Move that gurney -- push. Get rid of that laundry bag -- heave. Transfer that patient -- lift -- higher.

Now repeat. Again and again for eight hours or more.

The act of nursing can be described as an ergonomic nightmare. In an average shift, staff nurses must perform repetitive movements and lifts over and over and over again -- often at a quick pace, with no breaks and with little help, human or otherwise. They consider themselves lucky when they go home without suffering a major on-the-job injury. But experts and nurse advocates say that all those twists, turns, bends and lifts take their toll in the form of repetitive stress that makes nurses ripe for disabling musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), like back and shoulder injuries.

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Texas nurse wins whistleblower case

A Texas emergency room nurse won her four-year battle against the facility that retaliated against her for whistleblowing when a Galveston, TX, jury ruled in her favor. The jury found that Stephanie Hohman, RN, had reported her concerns about patients' rights and possible abuse in the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) emergency room to the Board of Nurse Examiners in good faith. Further, the jury found that she was entitled to wages and damages totaling $500,000 and attorney's fees of $310,000 for the retaliation that resulted from reporting her concerns under the state whistleblower law and the whistleblower clause in the nurse practice act.

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