Not just your employees, but your patients as well, he adds. "When
you improve the safety of your staff, you improve the level of care for
your patients," says Mr. Kasprzak. "You can't have one without the
other."
Here are a few innovative ways your colleagues are keeping their
surgical staffs free from harm.
1. Back sprains and strains
Back sprains and strains are the leading causes of work-related mus-
culoskeletal disorders for nurses, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. A major culprit: overexertion from lifting. The best way to
prevent back injuries from lift-
ing is to avoid lifting tasks, but
this is hardly practical in surgi-
cal facilities. The answer lies in
ergonomics.
Here's a simple thing you can
do to ease back strain. Elevate
the kick bucket, which is cus-
tomarily low to the floor, in one
of your ring stands to decrease
the amount of bending the floor
nurses must do when they pick
up the dirty Ray-Tec sponges
and place them in your count
bags, says Christopher M.
Lomboy, RN, BSN, RNFA, MBA,
perioperative manager at Kaiser
Permanente San Jose
Ambulatory Surgery Center in
8 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6
• ERGONOMICS Elevate your kick bucket to ease staff back strain.
Christopher
M.
Lomboy,
RN,
BSN,
RNFA,
MBA
