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The Ongoing Need for Nitrile Exam Gloves and N95 Masks

by sphmedicaladmin

During the pandemic, hospitals and medical professionals couldn’t access enough supplies to properly care for the huge flood of patients. Protective gear like N95 masks and nitrile exam gloves were in short supply, putting doctors, nurses and sick patients at higher risk. These essential supplies are still needed in greater quantities today with hospitals struggling to find enough to keep their staff safe as the pandemic continues.

N95 Masks

N95 masks are still needed in great quantities as prices skyrocket and hospitals struggle to procure enough. N95 respirators are used in a variety of settings from industrial jobs where workers are exposed to dust and air particulates to hospitals where disease and infections can be airborne. N95 masks are intended to be single-use respiratory protective devices to protect both the patient and the medical professional from transferring any particulates, fluids or organisms.N95 Masks for Hospitals Cities and Schools

N95 masks became essential during the pandemic as medical staff wore them to try to avoid the spread of coronavirus. As the pandemic raged, hospitals needed more and more, with some having to resort to repeatedly using their masks or even trash bags to stay safe as available protective gear dwindled. Today, the costs of N95 masks is still higher than it was before the pandemic, unlike other PPE. While the need for N95 has lessened since the middle of the pandemic, there is still a 1,300% increased use rate by medical providers due to the delta variant.

Conventional medical masks are known to have limited capabilities against the coronavirus, with N95 masks being capable of filtering up to 95% of particulates and materials. N95 market growth is expected to continue to rise as strict regulations are being passed for occupational safety in industrial positions as well as for a number of surgeries. There is a greater current need for cataract surgery and orthopedic surgery for which N95 masks are essential to avoid infection.

Tens of millions of surgeries are completed every year globally with about half being minimally invasive. Along with increased surgery rates, there is a driving need to avoid hospital-acquired infections, which continue to be a major concern. There are many aspects of the medical process that increase the chance of acquiring an infection, lowering the chance of a positive outcome and increasing comorbidities. N95 masks are essential in today’s medical environments to ensure all medical staff and patients have the best chance at both becoming and staying healthy.

Nitrile Exam Gloves

Another important personal protection item is nitrile exam gloves. These gloves are stronger than latex and are commonly used in examinations so they’re available in sterile and non-sterile forms. They provide greater chemical exposure protection and high personal barrier protection. Nitrile gloves were in high demand during the pandemic with national stockpiles in several countries depleting as it raged on.

Nitrile Exam Glove Testing 2021

The United States is still on its way to restoring stockpiles and recently signed a production deal that will increase nitrile glove production by billions within the country. There are a number of benefits of using this type of glove in healthcare settings, which is driving the increasing market and need.

Nitrile is a commonly preferred type of material in both medical and industrial settings around the world. Latex-free and with up to three times the puncture resistance of standard latex gloves, these gloves provide maximum protection against a variety of potential infection situations. Infection control and increasing latex allergies are driving factors in the popularity of this type of glove. There is an increased awareness occurring in healthcare settings concerning infection and pandemic diseases like coronavirus and even swine flu.

Medical professionals and facilities want to provide their staff and patients with the best protective gear on the market. As the need for nitrile exam gloves rises to avoid spreading infection and disease, facilities and organizations struggle to procure enough to keep their organization safe. As government agencies struggle to make deals to increase their stockpiles, facilities, first responders and healthcare organizations are also struggling to ensure they can keep up with the delta variant and the increased occurrence of infectious patients still happening around the world today. While the high of the pandemic has passed for now, there are still high rates of coronavirus and other diseases that need to be handled professionally and safely.

Protective Gear; Nitrile Exam Gloves and N95 Masks

Hospitals and other institutional healthcare facilities are still struggling to obtain enough protective gear like N95 masks and nitrile gloves. SPH Medical is a trusted supplier authorized to securely distribute these essential supplies to hospitals that desperately need them. Staying safe, protected and sterile during examinations and surgeries is essential to creating a safe space where patients can achieve their best health outcomes. Having the proper protective gear is important in maintaining the safety of both staff and patients.

Air Transfer System and Epidural Chair by SPH Medical
CategoriesPatient Handling

Safe Patient Handling in Perioperative Areas

by sphmedicaladmin

While Stanford University researchers looked for data on epidurals for pregnant obese women, they found a stunning statistic. Seventy-one percent of all pregnant women get an epidural or other spinal anesthesia, an increase of 10 percent over a ten-year period. Recent advancements in technology allow the SPH Medical Air Transfer System and the Epidural Positioning Chair to help anesthesiologists and nursing staff implement safe patient handling to improved outcomes.

Enhancing Safe Patient Handling Process for Patients and Nurses

The miracle of getting relief from extreme discomfort with an epidural or spinal block helps people tolerate the pain of childbirth and surgery.  Patient positioning by nurses working in the hospital setting is not limited to Labor and Delivery and Surgery departments.  Anywhere patients require physical assistance nurses and therapists are present to help.  Unfortunately, as the keystone of the country’s health care system, nurses experience a higher than average risk of musculoskeletal injury. Delivering care to others often comes at the expense of personal well-being, but specially adapted devices help lighten the load.

Guidelines in the Safe Patient Handling tool kit by the Association of Peri-Operative RNs (AORN) recommend an Air Transfer System for surgical patients over 157 pounds to lessen the incidence of injury to caregivers. In addition, the highly efficient system requires fewer staff members to move patients safely. At SPH Medical, we have perfected the design first introduced in the 90s to reduce risks of infection and cross-contamination. With successful use in surgery departments across the country as a patient-specific device, the system features a Single Patient Use Transfer Mat that remains with each patient until no longer needed.

Exploring the Features of the Air Assisted Transfer System

Each feature of the system contributes to the efficiency and safety of moving patients without risk of injury to staff.

  • Components of each system include a transfer mattress, motor, air hose, power cord and optional transport cart.
  • Safety straps on the transfer pad connect across the patient during transfer.
  • Ergonomic handles allow caregivers to transfer horizontally or boosting up in bed.
  • Perforated air chambers between the transfer mattress and surface reduce friction and provide support for the patient.
  • Optional disposable top sheets on the Single Patient Use Transfer Mat can keep moisture away from the patient and protect the moisture-proof mattress from soiling.
  • An efficient air hose and motor design make the transfer process safe and routine for patients and staff.

Nurses are faced with high frequency patient handling tasks, from repositioning to lateral transfers transfer, that put  them at risk for severe career ending injuries.  The significant direct medical expenses and immeasurable indirect costs of these injuries demand that these high risk tasks are addressed and modified with the appropriate tools to create a safe work environment for nurses.  To address these issues, SPH Medical is delivering innovative devices that provide technological advancements in safety and efficiency to improve patient care and staff safety.

Increasing Safe Patient Handling Practices

As the high volume of surgical cases makes epidurals and spinal blocks almost commonplace, the need to improve positioning deserves attention. However, even though the procedures continue to gain popularity, the constant factor concerns the process of positioning patients.

The traditional method allows a level of imprecision that the Epidural Positioner prevents. Preparation for the procedure required a patient to lie on one side or lean over a bedside table until the gold standard for positioning became essential in hospitals. The Epidural Positioner makes precision the highest priority. Makeshift substitutes for accuracy require patients to use pillows to achieve spinal flexion and allow access to the spine.

Unfortunately, without effective designs that feature technological advances, the nursing staff must position patients manually. Even worse, the procedure requires manual static holding and counterpressure that increases caregivers’ risk of musculoskeletal injury. A safe patient handling tool such as an epidural positioning device (EPD) eliminates the need for manual techniques that create risk for patients and staff.

Reducing the Risk of Injury

An Epidural Positioner provides access for pregnant moms to get relief from unendurable pain, and it has many applications outside the labor and delivery unit. For example, surgical departments worldwide use EPD to prepare patients for joint replacement surgeries. In many cases, a spinal block provides the treatment that has become the standard of care.

Imaging departments have discovered the benefit of the EPD as well.  A common procedure called Thoracentesis which involves draining fluid from the pleural cavity in the lungs requires patient positioning that puts Ultrasound technicians and nurses at risk.  The Epidural Chair solves this issue by safely positioning the patient while allowing access for the pulmonologist to perform the procedure.  The patient is comfortably positioned on the EPD instead of the historic bedside table with pillows that doesn’t lock, a dramatic improvement in safety.

While nursing staff have traditionally used manual handing to achieve proper proper patient positioning in all areas of the hospital, their dedication to duty may come at a great expense.  Occasionally, an exceptional opportunity offers excellent options for patients and nursing staff, and the SPH Medical product offering of Air Assisted Transfer Systems and the EPD provide such access.  SPH Medial delivers a blend of efficiency and effectiveness that removes the burden of pushing, pulling, and lifting by nursing staff significantly reducing risk of injury and dramatically improving patient satisfaction.

Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mat
CategoriesPatient Handling

Air Transfer Systems in the Hospital Setting

by sphmedicaladmin

Anyone working in healthcare is already well aware of the countless hazards that nurses and other professionals have to expose themselves to so they can provide quality care to their patients. From physical injuries to the risk of disease and infection, medical workers truly put themselves in the front lines for the good of the general public. Every piece of equipment that makes healthcare professionals’ jobs safer and easier is a valuable asset. SPH Medical’s Air Transfer Systems are an innovative transfer mat that’s making the lives of nurses and other physicians’ lives easier, allowing them to go home at the end of the day without dealing with pain or injuries.

Of all the patient handling tasks that are performed in hospitals, lateral transfers are among the riskiest maneuvers. For inpatients, transfers from surface to surface happen multiple times every day. Each additional transfer increases the likelihood of something going wrong and a nursing injury occurring.

To make matters worse, manual transfers often don’t involve enough caregivers to safely move the patient from A to B. What ends up happening in many cases is the use of improper tools like a draw sheet, sliding the patient from bed to gurney with a plastic board underneath. It doesn’t take an expert to understand that this method doesn’t eliminate nearly enough friction to create a comfortable – or safe – experience for anyone involved.

Single Patient Use transfer mats are a simple yet highly effective way of modifying the lateral transfer process to eliminate safety hazards in myriad hospital departments. This includes the ICU, the ER, Surgery, Medical units, Imaging, and countless others.

There were an estimated 294,000 nonfatal work-related illnesses and injuries experienced by hospital workers in 2014. These injuries and illnesses come with a steep price tag for hospitals, putting all the more pressure on administrators to take every possible action to avoid them and protect their employees.

Fortunately, the trend for hospital workers being injured or getting sick on the job has been steadily declining amongst all healthcare industries for the past several years. This good news is likely due to the increased adoption of innovative new equipment like these Single Patient Use transfer mats.

Still, protecting healthcare workers’ safety is crucial because a federal safe patient handling law has yet to be enacted. The only states that have enacted safe patient handling laws or related rules and regulations are California, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington, Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Missouri.

A Company Committed to Safety

The main focus of SPH Medical as a company is minimizing the risks that caregivers are exposed to. Their product lines provide innovative new ways to reshape medical practices in a variety of areas and create a safer environment for the professionals working in this field. It’s imperative that the safety of healthcare workers is protected to enabled them to better carry out their jobs of caring for everybody else.

Why Single Patient Use Air Transfer Systems?

The Single Patient Use transfer mat is disposable and thus removes the risk of infections being transmitted in the hospital setting. This includes infections spreading both patient-to-patient and patient-to-physician.

Using a new transfer mat every time also eliminates the risk of a mat wearing down over time and becoming defective. All it takes is one faulty transfer mat to result in a serious repositioning injury, so these Single Patient Use mats eliminate this possibility altogether.

Benefits to Patients

The most important benefit to patients is one that they might not appreciate in the moment unless they’re in the unfortunate situation of things going wrong: safety. When used properly, these types of transfer mats make things go so safely and smoothly that patients are often not even thinking about the potential risks that they’re avoiding.

Those who are on the receiving end of these transfer mats will be able to feel the difference as well. With a design that has the patient in mind and quality materials that are up for the job, Single Patient Use lateral transfer mats make a world of difference in the comfort level of their experience.

The New Air Transfer Systems

Air Transfer Systems are the most innovative and safe method of transferring patients from surface to surface. Using an inflatable mattress, a thin air cushion is created beneath the patient to reduce the amount of friction and smoothly transfer them into a bed or gurney. The result is a weightless experience for the patient, so much so that they’re said to be “floated” from one surface to the other.

Air Assisted Transfer Systems have various applications; from lateral transfers to repositioning bedridden patients. With patients who are unable to move on their own, it’s crucial that they’re repositioned regularly to avoid sores and other health problems. With the help of these new technological innovations, nurses are able to stay as safe as possible while doing these daily work tasks.

SPU Breathable Air Transfer Mattress reduces nurse injuries
Categoriesair transfer systems

Reduce Nurse Injuries from Repositioning with Air Transfer Systems

by sphmedicaladmin

Are you a healthcare facility or hospital caring for patients that are total care or dependent patients that require extensive boosting turning and transferring? Are nursing and hospital staff workers continuing to be injured from patient handling tasks with no end in sight? Now is the time to make a change to dramatically reduce nurse injuries risks using the SPH Medical Air Transfer and Positioning System. SPH Medical, a global leader in the area of Safe Patient Handling offers the current gold standard of Air Powered Transfer and Positioning Systems. This SPH Air Transfer Mat uses a cushion of air that flows through the Air Mattress and out through tiny holes on the underside of mattress to virtually eliminate friction on the surface below, resulting in an effortless ability to boost, turn, or transfer a patient.

The SPH Medical Air Transfer and Positioning device is the latest industry leading technology that reduces patient-caregiver risk of injury and improves efficiency. With multiple material types and sizes in a variety of widths and lengths, the SPH Medical Air Transfer Systems is used throughout Medical Centers to address a variety of patient handling tasks.

How it Works

The air-powered Lateral Transfer Device is the manufacturer’s design to address traditional challenges of patient handling posed by existing devices in the market. Its functionality is bent towards reducing injuries to patients and caregivers.

A powered air supply accompanies the SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat and Positioning Systems via a hose. The motor injects air into the mattress from the bottom, which holds the patient gently and delicately. The perforated Mat with tiny air holes that let out air effectively creates air cushioning. This cushion reduces the pressure needed to transfer patients.

With your force cut down by 90%, your typical strain reduces for the caregiver attending numerous patients. Unlike the familiar four caregivers or more needed for some procedures, your patient needs one or two nurses.

Transfer Mattress Materials and Specifications

Air Powered Lateral Transfer Device is made of a nylon twill material with a four-way flex fabric. This durable material comes with an antibacterial coating on the patient’s side.

The standard length of a Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress is 78″ with widths of 24″, 28″ 34″, 39″, and 50″. Other features include:

  • The SPH Air Transfer mat is compatible with most air supply or motors already in place
  • A safe working load of 450kg/1000lbs.
  • Enables compliance with Safe Patient Handling policies and programs.
  • Bariatric patients from 700-1000lbs can utilize two motors for maximum friction reduction and airflow.

Benefits of Friction Reducing Devices

  • They are easy to use.
  • Fewer Caregivers Required – You need two caregivers to complete the transfer rather than 3-4.
  • Easy to implement and train staff.
  • Reduction injuries to patients and caregivers, including reduction in severity.
  • Documented reduction in workers compensation costs.
  • It is an efficient tool in managing the caregiver’s time.
  • It is the most comfortable and safest transfer method for all patients.
  • Its material is machine washable and dry-able.
  • Economical and cost-effective
  • Significant improvement in staff efficiency and morale.
  • SPU Air Transfer and Positioning offers enhanced infection control.

A Consideration for success:

The SPH Medical Air Transfer System Air Supply and Mattress must be accessible and available. Ensure that the system components are stored locally on the unit so that staff have ready access to them. Include Housekeeping and Environmental Services in your Safe Patient Handling program to ensure that beds are made with the Single Patient Use transfer Mattress so it is available for immediate use. This removes a major step in the process so nurses don’t have to turn a patient to get the Air Transfer Mattress underneath the patient!

Who Should Buy a Single Patient Use Air Transfer Systems

Whether you are a Nurse Leader, Rehab Director, Surgeon, or Imaging Tech, you want to see Safe Patient Handling best practices being used throughout your facility especially on the total care patients that can’t move themselves. For this reason, we recommend that the following areas should consider having access to the SPH Medical Air Transfer and Positioning System.

  • Hospitals with Medical Units and Intensive Care Units
  • Any inpatient unit that has dependent bed-bound patients
  • Health care facilities with MRI, CT, and Radiology departments
  • Surgery Departments
  • Nursing facilities and palliative caregivers
  • Spinal Centers
  • Ambulance service providers

Varieties of Air Powered Lateral Transfer Devices

The SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat is available in two material types:

Single Patient Use Transfer Mats. This Single Patient Use version is designed to be used during a patients’ entire length of stay and is then disposed of. Assigning a Mat to a single patient ensures that there is no cross-contamination between patients. The Single Patient Use version is similar in design and performance to the launderable or reusable version except that it will not be laundered.

A few key benefits of the Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mat version are breathability and inventory management. The material and construction of the Air Transfer Mat allow moisture to be transmitted through the Mat so that the Mat can remain under patients for prolonged periods. Breathability is a key advantage for the SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat which makes this technology readily accessible to nurses when boosting, turning, or transferring is required. When ordering the Single Patient Use version the inventory and availability of the SPU Air Transfer Mat is easily managed. Weekly and Monthly ordering follows and therefore tracks actual usage which documents that risk avoidance has occurred.

Reusable Transfer Mats. The reusable Air Transfer Mats are washable and include a one-year warranty and will generally be used for many years. Hospitals must consider the cleaning and disinfection of the the SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat between patients to reduce the risk of infections. The laundry process should be evaluated to determine how many reusable Air Transfer Mat’s you will need to meet all the daily patient repositioning and transfer tasks that will take place. Laundry system turnaround plays a key factor in determining inventory needs.

Other Repositioning Alternatives

You will find other devices in the market such as:

  1. Repositioning Sheets
  2. Slide Sheets
  3. Tube Style Slide Sheets
  4. Draw Sheet
  5. RollerSlide
  6. EasyGlide Ovals

While these alternatives have their share of use in the Patient Handling procedures, SPH Medical’s Air-Assisted Transfer and Positioning System is highly preferred by caregivers. This preference is due to the myriad of ergonomic advantages listed earlier. SPH Medical offers this proven technology to boost, turn, or transfer patients safely and efficiently improving patient throughput in busy hospital departments like surgery and imaging.

How to buy the Air Transfer and Positioning System

At SPH Medical, we offer you the latest Air Transfer and Positioning System to maximize safety for both the patient and the caregiver. The Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress is your go to solution for rapid reduction in workplace injuries and offers you measurable benefits in patient comfort, staff and patient safety, time management, and ease of use.
For more information about the SPH Medical Air Transfer and Positioning System and to discuss the cost savings impact to your organization, please contact us.

Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress
CategoriesPatient Handling

Top 10 Questions about Single Patient Use Air Mattress

by sphmedicaladmin

Across the globe, the SPH Medical’s Air Transfer System (ATS) keeps patients and caregivers safe. We provide a full range of widths and lengths to suit your hospital’s safety program with the highest quality control, backed by a manufacturer’s warranty and safe patient handling education. Performing patient transfers, repositioning up in bed, turning from one position to another is a daily task for nurses.  Even though it is routine and done frequently, moving patients can be a challenging task that can cause injuries to staff and patients. The single patient use air mattress is a prominent transfer device. Research has shown that air-assist technology has many benefits. With a number of air transfer systems available, it can be difficult to choose the right one for you. To emphasize the importance of safe patient handling, we have compiled a top ten questions from direct customer questions and feedback.

Q: 1. How do air-assisted transfer systems work?

A: The Air Transfer Mattresses have many small air hole perforations that allow air to escape when the motor or air supply inflates the mattress. As a result of the air passing through these holes, the mattress will have less friction against the bed surface. With low friction, it is easy to transfer the patient. When two surfaces are separated by air, they move freely like a tabletop air hockey game or hovercraft.

Q: 2. What are the main components of the Air Transfer System?

A: The main components include the mattress, hose assembly, air supply or blower unit, ergonomic handles, and patient safety straps.

Q: 3. Which is more common the Single Patient Use or Launderable version?

A: A patient’s or medical facility’s laundry system and capital budget planning may determine whether the air transfer systems deployed are single patient use or Launderable.  Hospitals that tend so send their laundry out to third part laundry providers often find that their hospital owned goods get lost by their laundry providers!

Many hospitals have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of slings and transfer mattresses.  For this reason the Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress has gained significant popularity.  Avoiding that horrible laundry system and being able to keep track of inventory on the shelf allows you to track actual usage which directly correlates to risk avoidance and reduced injury costs!

Capital budgets can be difficult to navigate for those in charge of Safe Patient Handling programs as they compete with other hospital priorities to purchase new life saving equipment or revenue generating solutions needed by various departments.  Although the investment in patient lifts, slings, mobility solutions, and Air Transfer Systems is an essential need it often falls behind these other priorities.  If there is a concerted effort by a team of leaders from all departments including Nursing, Physical Therapy, Surgery, and Imaging these essential purchases can be prioritized and eventually made after lengthy budget planning.

The Single Patient Use Transfer Mattress is a much easier item to deploy for this reason.  It is a supply item.  Each department can place their order weekly or monthly and get the supplies they need and this typically avoids the entire capital budgeting nightmare.  With SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat, adopting this gold standard technology has never been more affordable.

With SPH Medical, you will find a complete range of Air Transfer solutions, including single patient use and durable options. They are expert at Safe Patient Handling and understand the unique injury risks and needs of each and every type of patient care environment.  Their experience includes implementing a complete range of solutions in Labor and Delivery, ICU, Med Surgery, Imaging, General Surgery, Rehab, and many other departments.

Q: 4. How does the system reduce the risk of injuries to nurses?

A: Hospital staff who perform frequent repositioning tasks or lateral patient transfers are at risk of suffering a back injury.  These high frequency tasks are predictable and the old fashion way of manually boosting, turning or transferring patients is a well known cause of career ending back injuries.  Although lower severity back injuries along with strains and sprains are common and often do not receive much attention, these injuries cause facilities significant losses in productivity and money.  The Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress improves nursing efficiency and improves patient care by reducing the need for 3-4 nurses to perform a task. For manual handling or alternative non-air friction reducing devices, it takes at least three hospital employees to transfer a patient, but with the Air Transfer System it only take two.  This increased efficiency means that they nurses can perform other tasks or attend to their other patients rather than being constantly called to assist.

Q: 5. Is the single Patient Use version breathable (Can it be left under patients)

A: SPH Medical has conducted thorough pressure mapping, and breathability testing on its Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mat to ensure that it is safe for patients as well as caregivers.  Based on pressure mapping and moisture vapor transmission testing, there is minimal impact to the support surface and patient when lying on the Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mat, making it safe to leave it under patients all day.

Having housekeeping staff make the unoccupied bed with the Air Transfer Mat means that nurses have the ability to boost, turn, and transfer whenever needed.  This increase in availability and accessibility equals improved safety for nursing staff.

Q: 6. Does the motor or Air Supply go with the patient during transport (on the bed or gurney)?

A. Yes.  The SPH Medical Air Supply has convenient hooks on the back that allow it to hang on the foot of the bed or the stretcher.  In some cases the transport staff moving a patient will put the air supply underneath the stretcher if there is space.  Several transport carts and stands are available to hold the Air Supply and Single Patient Use Transfer Mats.  Some hospitals prefer to leave the Air Supply in each department so you just use the Air Supply at the destination end to transfer or move the patient.  In this scenario where the entire hospital has Air Supplies you never need to bring it with you.

Q: 7. Can the Air Transfer System be left under patients during X-Ray or CT Scan?

A: Yes. The majority of air transfer mattresses are safe and radiolucent and offer a safe environment for imaging procedures and x-rays. If you are requesting information on a product, confirm with the company.

Q: 8. What is the typical cost for a Single Patient Use Air Transfer mattresses?

A: Price ranges typically range from $75 to $100 each, depending on contract relationships and volume purchases, without including Air Supply and Transport Stands.

Q: 9. What is the Return on Investment realized when implementing a hospital-wide Air Transfer and Positioning solution?

A: Air Transfer and positioning solutions can help reduce injuries, costs, and resources. Hospitals can save hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct injuries with the implementation of Air Transfer and positioning solutions. But indirect injuries have been estimated, but indirect injuries cost three to ten times as much.

A national survey of 1,000 hospitals shows that patient handling injuries account for 25 percent of workers’ compensation claims. Patient handling injuries are the most expensive type of hospital workers’ injury. Along with direct expenses, hospitals have indirect costs that are hard to measure but have a tangible impact on finances and resources. These include overtime, training, productivity, morale, employee turnover, and incident investigation time.

Q: 10. Are air-assisted devices safe for handling patients?

A: An Air Transfer System is one of the safest transfer and repositioning solutions available today.  This proven technology has now been in use for more than 30 years and has been implemented on virtually all hospital units where repositioning, turning, and lateral transfers occur.  There are other injury prevention solutions that are currently used in hospitals to lift move and transfer patients but nurses and technical staff have reported that the Single Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress is the most convenient and user friendly Safe Patient Handling solution.  Today the SPH Medical Air  Transfer System is considered the gold standard of patient transfer systems.

In addition to being safe for caregivers, the single patient use Air Transfer Mattress has become a key component of the hospital infection prevention plan.  Even prior to COVID-19 the hospitals have been focused on the reduction of HAI’s or Hospital Acquired infections.  The Single Patient use version of the Air Transfer Mattress stays with the patient during their entire length of stay and when soiled, or the patient is discharged, the item is thrown away.  No laundering or messy spray and wiping disinfection is required.

It is also important that the mattress inflates at the perimeter before inflating at the center. As a result, the patient rests in a cradle, which reduces the chances of tipping over.

The Epidural Positioning Device for safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

How to Improve Staff Safety During Epidurals and Spinal Blocks

by sphmedicaladmin

When most people think about the effectiveness of modern healthcare, they think about innovative robotic surgeries or new medications. While these advancements certainly are relevant, they are not the only advancements that improve patient outcomes and increase staff safety during epidurals or procedures. One of the most recent innovations is an epidural positioning device.

Known more commonly as an EPD, this device is designed to provide better support for patients during the administration of an epidural or spinal block. An epidural positioning chair is most likely to be employed by an anesthesiologist and nursing staff to provide optimal spinal, lumbar, or cervical flexion. The patients will also see direct benefits.

The need for proper positioning relates to how an epidural is administered. The epidural injection occurs in the space between the spinal column and outer membrane of the spinal cord also known, as the epidural space, in the mid to lower back. The flexed spine position opens up this space. Epidurals are perhaps best known as a tool for pain control or analgesia during labor and delivery. Spinal blocks are similar procedures. However, a spinal block is a single shot in the dural sac. The relief is fast and effective. That is why a spinal block is common in general surgery.

Staff Safety During Epidurals wit the EPD

Despite the large volume of these procedures, the process of positioning patients today remains a manual and risky process for nursing staff during epidurals. Traditionally, patients must be moved in either a side lying position or leaning over a woefully unstable bedside table with pillow to enable spinal flexion and to provide access to the spine. Often, nursing staff must manually position patients and hold them in place. This requires a lot of manual static holding, counter-pressure, and other manualManual Handling Patients during Epidural pushing and pulling, which puts the support staff at risk of a musculoskeletal injury. Over time, this can lead to muscle or joint disorders that cause long-term impairment or pain. The risk to staff is often overlooked on the Labor and Delivery unit where nursing injuries are increasingly problematic for both employees and costly for hospitals.

Moreover, this process can be quite uncomfortable for patients. The idea of getting a shot in the spine can already be unnerving for some patients. The manual process of being held in place can increase any associated anxiety. Plus, since the process is done manually, there is some risk of movement or error. Patients often have higher comfort levels when they feel stable, properly supported, and secure.Improve Patient Safety with EPD

In this manner, the EPD solves problems from both ends. With an epidural positioning device, patients can be properly positioned without manual patient handling that puts nurses at risk of injury. Instead, patients are comfortably positioned with adjustable arm rests, a face rest and a foot plate so they can comfortably remain still while the anesthesiologist has direct access to the spine. Patients are far more comfortable, and the risk of injury to staff is dramatically reduced.

Epidural Positioning Chair

The applications for the epidural positioner are vast. They can easily be incorporated into the labor and delivery unit for expectant moms. The EPD has also gained a great deal of popularity in surgical departments across the globe. These positioners can be used to help patients prepare for common joint replacement surgeries where spinal blocks are a normal part of the standard of care.

Now, the positioners are even being purchased for use in imaging departments. There is a growing consensus that the use of a positioner can be useful during a thoracentesis. This unique procedure requires the doctor to insert a needle through the chest wall. The needle is then directed to the space between the lung and the chest wall. In some conditions, fluid can accumulate in this area. This is known as pleural effusion, and it can make it difficult to breathe. A thoracentesis, therefore, will ease the pressure on the lungs while also making it easier to diagnose the cause of the fluid buildup.

The EPD Providing Staff Safety

Given the precise positioning needed to complete a delicate procedure like a thoracentesis, the use of a positioner has obvious benefits. It is easier to get the patient into the correct position, and the positioner ensures that the patient does not shift or move during the procedure. When the process involves the use of needles in a sensitive area, secure precision is preferable.

In the end, medical advancements come in all shapes and sizes. While a positioner may not seem as dramatic as some breakthroughs, the benefits of the Epidural Positioning Chair cannot be overstated. To improve staff safety during epidurals and to increase patient comfort, the advantages make a clear argument for increased usage and broader implementation. New applications are continuing to be discovered, and it is clear that the EPD deserves a place in hospitals worldwide.

AORN recommends using an Air Powered Lateral Transfer System for supine transfers in Perioperative care areas
CategoriesPatient Handling

Reduce Risk of Injury and Infections with Air Transfer Technology

by sphmedicaladmin

Implementing Air Transfer Technology Reduces the Risk of Infections and Staff Injury in Hospitals

Hospitals are typically viewed as place where state of the art healthcare services are provided.  However hospitals today are still not the safest places to work. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic nurses and healthcare workers have been exposed to workplace injuries from manually lifting, moving and transferring patients. Infection prevention was always a top concern as well for both staff and patients. Hospitals and their infection prevention team has had their hands full preventing cross contamination and transmission of deadly viruses within the hospital. Some of these pathogens include C. difficile, MRSA, VRE, H1N1 and many more. The risks abound for patients and staff. According to the CDC, “On any given day, about one in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection.” One way to reduce both the risk of injury and Hospital Associated Infections is to streamline transfer and positioning processes with the Air Transfer Technology from SPH Medical.

The Air Transfer System is a multifaceted approach to solving the issues associated with lateral transfer. Lateral transfers are quite common in the hospital setting, and they are also one of the most dangerous patient-handling tasks. During a global pandemic, lateral transfers can be especially unnerving. When moving patients from one surface to another, there is a risk of contamination. As patients are moved around the hospital, they can leave a trail of germs that allows pathogens to spread. Healthcare associated infections are incredibly problematic. By the best estimates, one in every 31 patients will be infected each day.

The Air Transfer System can minimize the risk of HAI’s within a facility. These systems are designed for single-patient use. In other words, they are not shared from patient to patient. This is more important than ever. With increased concern over the spread of germs within hospitals, infection prevention protocols have become more stringent. Using single patient use devices is a further advancement in minimizing the risk of infection.

The injury risk to nursing staff associated with patient positioning and transfers may even be of greater concern. Compared to other work settings, hospitals are among the most dangerous places to work. The risk of injury is 5.9 per 100 workers. This compares to a risk of 2.6 per 100 workers in other industries. Much of this risk comes from pushing, pulling, boosting, holding, and transferring patients. Patients are moved all the time.

For example, an ICU nurse caring for four patients over a 12 hour shift performs an estimated 48 repositioning tasks that include boosting and turning every two hours! Now consider that patients are getting heavier and typically average 250-300lbs and the nurse is considerably smaller having to manually move these patients. Nurses are the coordinators of care often the ones responsible for repositioning, turning and transfers. It is not surprising, therefore, that 80 percent of nurses endure some injury on the job.

Manual Patient Handling

When a patient is moved in bed or is transferred from one surface to another, it is often a manual process. In other words, the patient must be lifted or pulled up in bed or slid over from a bed to a gurney. In some cases, a draw sheet may be used or some other type of friction reducing device may be used like the old fashioned plastic slider board that always hangs at the end of the hall. However, the draw sheets actually cause nurses to lift, and the plastic boards do not reduce friction sufficiently to reduce risk. The cumulative trauma from the predictable and repetitive patient positioning and transferring tasks have been documented as leading causes of injury to nurses.

This does not mean that injury is inevitable. Thanks to proven technology, it is possible to make transfers safer and reduce the risk of nursing injury and repositioning injury. Just consider the SPH Medical Air Transfer System. The single patient use Air Transfer Mats are part of this system from SPH Medical. The technology dramatically improves the efficiency of patient positioning and transferring while reducing risk of risk.

The New Standard of Care

The Air Transfer System utilizes the power of air to inflate the mattress and safely cradle the patient while releasing air through the bottom of the mattress to virtually eliminate friction. Nurses can easily reposition patients or float them from one surface to another. Air transfer technology is fast becoming the standard of care for surgery departments and the OR within Labor and Delivery Units. The Association of Peri-Operative Nurses, AORN, recently released their updated Safe Patient Handling tool kit and recommends its usage for all patients greater than 157 lbs that require lateral transfers.

Air Powered systems make repositioning a patient up in bed safer for nurses. Patients who are confined to bed, or bed bound, and unable to turn and move on their own must be turned and repositioned every two hours for wound prevention. In-bed repositioning poses risks similar to lateral transfers. In the past, two nurses would simply grab the bedsheet to boost the patient and lift or drag the patient up in bed. When repeated all throughout the day, the risk of injury is prevalent. The single patient use Air Transfer Mat stays underneath the patient to enable safe repositioning. With a simple flip of the switch the mat will inflate and nurses can boost a patient with ease, even heavy patients.

These are just a few examples of how Air Powered systems are so important to nursing safety. Patients who require total care put a real strain on a nurse’s physical health. While it is imperative to provide critical care for these patients, it is equally important to keep nurses safe in the process. Fortunately, the SPH Medical Air Transfer Technology can serve both purposes. Total care patients will be safer and more comfortable throughout their stay, and nurses and other hospital staff will be at a reduced risk of injury.

These risks are not overstated. In fact, if anything, there is not nearly enough attention given to the problems associated with a patient transfer process in the hospital. There are entire legislative solutions that have been passed to address the issue, and the CDC has taken a proactive approach to set infection prevention guidelines for both patient and staff safety.

The risks are real. Fortunately, it is possible to significantly impact the challenges of Healthcare Associated Infections and patient positioning with single patient use Air Transfer Mats from SPH Medical.

The EPD improves nursing and patient safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

Staff Safety During Epidurals and Spinal Blocks

by sphmedicaladmin

No Room for Error When It Comes To Staff Safety

It’s hard to imagine health care without anesthesia or analgesia. Even after 175 years, they’re a medical marvel that no one takes for granted. Technology and innovation may evolve at lightning speed, but there are still no shortcuts during epidurals and spinal blocks. Whenever anesthetists place a needle in a patient, they summon all their knowledge, training, skill, experience and powers of concentration. Where the spinal cord and nerve roots are concerned, there’s no room for error. Simply put, if epidural placement is inaccurate, pain is the least of anyone’s worries.

Positioning the Patient: What’s the Problem?

There’s more to getting pain medicine to the right place than most people realize. Before the needle can be positioned, the patient must be positioned. That’s almost always easier said than done, especially when the patient is elderly or feeble, has difficulty following instructions, or outweighs the assisting nurse. That last scenario is quite common and highly problematic.

In 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses were injured on the job at a significantly higher rate than full-time workers in other occupations. Fifty-one percent of injuries involved muscle strains, sprains or tears, and more than a fourth of those were back-related. The average recovery time away from work was seven days.

Work-related MSDs, or musculoskeletal disorders, are injuries caused by lifting or overexertion. In 2016, MSDs accounted for a whopping 44 percent of RNs’ occupational injuries.

Needless to say, if nurses go down, the whole system goes down. Maybe you’ve never given or received epidurals and spinal blocks. If not, you’re probably thinking, “How hard can it be to tell a patient how to sit?”

Well, it’s a little like telling a ballerina to hold a picture-perfect arabesque while the photographer tries different angles.

That’s an extreme example, but the point is this: Patients are asked to assume an unnatural position and sustain it throughout a tricky procedure that can’t be rushed. Incredibly, some rather primitive methods are still employed.

The Perils of Manual Positioning

To achieve the ideal position, it’s not uncommon for staff members to prop up patients on rickety bedside tables and unwieldy pillows. Nurses and anesthesiologists who lack state-of-the-art equipment must be resourceful.

With any luck, the bedside table won’t collapse or tip. Hopefully, the pillows won’t slip to the floor with the patient close behind. Women receiving epidurals before hard labor, even those who avoid injury, are in no mood for such nonsense. The assisting staff member could easily become the next patient.

Given all the things that could go wrong with manual positioning, it’s easy to see why EPD use is becoming more widespread.

The Epidural Positioning Device

For epidurals and spinal blocks it is necessary, the EPD (epidural positioning device) is a godsend. The design takes several things into account:

  • Ease and accuracy of epidural placement.
  • Patient stability and comfort.
  • Weight support up to 600 pounds.
  • Portability.
  • Staff safety.

The epidural positioner is not just a luxury item any more than a seat belt is a nice accessory for a car. EPDs make it easier for anesthesiologists to do their job. EPDs keep nurses healthy and on top of their game. EPDs help patients receive first-rate care with optimal outcomes. Given all those benefits and more, EPDs are increasingly considered necessary.

The Epidural Positioner in Thoracentesis

EDPs are widely used in labor and delivery, surgery and orthopedics. They are even useful in radiology departments.

Thoracentesis, also known as pleural tap, is a procedure to remove excess fluid in the lungs. A little fluid is appropriate for lubrication; it keeps the membranes involved in breathing from rubbing together. However, too much fluid interferes with lung capacity. Labored breathing and pain result. Excess fluid can also interfere with imaging or diagnosing disease.

In any case, thoracentesis also requires careful patient positioning and needle placement. During Thoracentesis patients must be supported in a comfortable position over a prolonged period while drainage occurs. Radiologists and their imaging teams are thankful for the EPDs that make their jobs easier and prevent injuries.

The uses and benefits of the epidural positioner become more apparent all the time. This is one innovation that will be around for a while.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/occupational-injuries-and-illnesses-among-registered-nurses.htm

SPH Medical RoWalker for Safe Patient Mobility
CategoriesPatient Handling

Mobilize Patients Early and Often

by sphmedicaladmin

The SPH Medical RoWalker Helping Mobilize Patients

Studies show the efficacy of mobilize patients early, and its benefits contribute significantly to patient health. Everyone on a health care team shares an interprofessional responsibility to provide treatment. However, the task of delivering ambulatory care typically rests with nurses who spend more time with patients than other health care team members. The SPH Medical RoWalker assists in providing the service that patients require, and it makes delivery easier for nurses.

Considering the Benefits of Early Patient Mobility

Combating the harmful effects of immobility on deconditioned patients, early patient mobility equipment contributes significant benefits. It improves muscle strength for bed-bound patients after days of immobility and inactivity. In addition, it reduces the incidence of delirium. Patients who use it tend to achieve better functional status after hospital release. Experts point to a potentially lower rate of mortality as well.

A reduction in days on a ventilator or in the ICU helps lower the cost of hospital care. When you mobilize patients early it improves respiratory and circulatory function in ICU patients. Getting out of bed and moving around multiple times a day with the RoWalker improves health outcomes significantly. Treatment that can produce a reduced length of stay helps improve patients’ overall quality of life.

As a falls prevention and ambulation tool that mobilizes patients, the RoWalker has proven its value across the country with a 10-year record of reliability. Moreover, early patient mobility does much more than making it easier for patients to move around from one location to another. While it may not occur to others who can move about freely, mobility lets people take care of routine activities of daily life. It provides opportunities for the expression of emotions and gratification of needs that everyone experiences. As an aid to enhancing the body’s ability to repair an injury and heal itself, the RoWalker serves an invaluable purpose.

Assisting Nurses in Providing Care

Research shows that functional decline in patients accompanies immobility. Outcomes include falls, delirium, increased length of hospital stay and an inability to conduct daily activities. Additionally, the loss of ambulatory independence can affect the quality of life. Enabling patients to move about, the SPH Medical RoWalker delivers care efficiently and enhances the safety of care providers. Nurses can rely on the equipment to provide the measure of support that a patient requires. In addition, the design makes it easy for both nurses and patients to use.

Safe Patient Mobility with SPH Medical RoWalker

Understanding the Conveniences

The design of the RoWalker incorporates the features that give patients and nurses assurance of efficiency and safety. With a 400-lb weight capacity, it mobilizes patients early and reduces the length of stay. The effectiveness of the design challenges patients to walk a little further with confidence and without the need for additional falls prevention.

Using the SPH Medical RoWalker provides the confidence and sense of well-being that encourages deconditioned patients with muscle weakness from inactivity to use it. Nurses can facilitate progress without strain or worry as the equipment handles every challenge smoothly and efficiently.

 

  • Movement ControlThe SPH Medical RoWalker supports IV and Oxygen
    Brakes and a directional wheel lock feature control the movement of the RoWalker. The directional locks enable the SPH Medical RoWalker to track in a straight line. Conveniently located and easy to access, the brakes and locks provide safe and reliable ambulation.
  • Access to Oxygen
    An oxygen tank holder with a convenient location on the front of the RoWalker ensures access to oxygen for patients when needed.
  • Seating Comfort and falls prevention
    Seats can flip up and rotate out to make it easy for patients to get into position to use the equipment. The seat flaps allow a patient to take a rest and sit down if they get tired. The seat flaps eliminate the requirement to pull a wheelchair behind a patient to try to catch a falling patient. Padded armrests and hand grips provide the extra comfort level that encourages patients to get the exercise that early patient mobility offers.
  • Height Accommodation
    An adjustable height feature allows the SPH Medical RoWalker to serve patients of any size. The equipment adapts to the height of each patient instead of requiring nurses to provide alternative measures. An adjustable IV pole stands above the unit to allow unimpeded access to the vital supply that patients may need while getting ambulatory exercise.
  • Storage Basket
    On the front of the RoWalker, an attractive metal basket provides a convenient place to store cardiac monitors or other small items that patients may need while away from their room.

Choosing Effective Equipment to Mobilize Patients

Years of development based on feedback from respiratory and physical therapists, nurses and cardiothoracic surgeons have produced the unique ergonomic design of the SPH Medical RoWalker. Initially designed for post cardiac/abdominal surgery patients, it has become the preferred choice for early patient mobility. In addition, major departments in hospitals across the country choose it for complex patient conditions, falls prevention and encouragement to exercise safely.

SPH Medical Repositioning Transfers and Ambulation
CategoriesPatient Handling

Safe Patient Mobility Today

by sphmedicaladmin

Today, Safe Patient Mobility means something different to every department in the hospital. But in general it means that we need to understand how patients move and how to safely handle them based upon their functional abilities. An important component is choosing the right assistive solution for each patient. There are a couple of tools now available that help assess a patient’s functional ability and then translate the results of that assessment to an assistive device recommendation. The first validated functional assessment tool of this kind for safe patient handling is the BMAT. We’ll go into greater detail about the history of the BMAT in another article but suffice it to say that nurses need to select use the right assistive tool based upon their functional ability to then mobilize our patients safely while maximizing the patients’ ability to move! The BMAT helps define the right tool. This article will focus on one of the highest frequency tasks that we see in hospitals today where a patient is totally dependent upon the hospital staff to be moved either up in bed or over to another surface laterally.

Mobility Solutions Matched to BMAT mobility levels

Safe Patient Mobility for Lateral Movement

A significant obstacle to providing therapeutic and safe environments of care is the practice handling patients manually. Sliding, lifting, positioning, and transferring patients without using assistive technology remains common in healthcare facilities. Notwithstanding, it is an unsafe practice for both patients and caregivers. Manual handling places caregivers at significant risk for nursing injury.

Scholars have established that more than eighty percent of caregivers’ work-related injuries result from a lack of safer ways to move or lift patients manually.

The increasing rate of morbidly obese, sicker, and predictable bariatric surgery patients that need to be moved around for multiple caregiving tasks amplifies the level of stress placed on caregivers’ bodies. It calls for some little imagination to understand that the nursing injury impacts organizational and staffing costs associated with workers’ compensation, lost time, and, most importantly, the quality of care. At the same time, manual patient handling increases the risk of pain, repositioning injury, and adverse health outcomes.

Risk Of Injury

According to research, of all professional groups, healthcare has the most significant number of work-related injuries. Globally, 50 to 60 percent of healthcare professionals are suffering from muscular-skeletal disorders. Repositioning, lateral transfer and movement are the most cited patient handling tasks in clinical facilities, and if performed manually, they endanger both patient and staff health. The air-assisted transfer system, such as the SPH Medical Air Transfer System, presents a practical approach to mitigating repositioning injury risks and physical effort related to the performance of transfers while reducing healthcare costs and work-related injuries. It allows the release of low-pressure air via the perforated chambers within its transfer mattress. The system creates a thin air cushion under an inflated mattress to lower friction and protect the patient’s skin, leading to improved care and injury risk reduction.

Reposition Turn and Transfer with the SPH Medical Air Transfer System

Cost Implications

According to International Labor Organization (ILO), the economic impact of not investing in health and worker safety is approximately equal to the collective gross domestic product of the one hundred and thirty poorest nations globally. The organization revealed that 2.78 million workers die annually due to occupational illnesses and injuries. An estimated 2.4 million of these deaths are associated with work-related illnesses. The annual aggregate cost of these injuries, diseases, and deaths is $2.99 trillion or approximately 4% of global GDP. There is a worldwide recognition that some OSHA challenges require global solutions.

Legislation

The HGRC Specialty Subcommittee on Patient Movement has studied the application of patient movement and handling equipment within health facilities. In sharing its expertise and research, ILO shockingly established a lack of information and knowledge on the issue and a growing recognition among regulatory agencies and the healthcare industry of the need to address this concern. The healthcare industry, nurses labor unions, nurses’ associations, state and federal regulators, and state legislatures have argued in favor of the capital costs associated with bills mandating minimal lift policies and the adoption of Air Transfer Systems to mitigate caregiver injuries.

Several states have enacted patient handling resolutions or legislation. Moreover, Washington and Minnesota have committed funds for loan or grant programs to help acquire these devices. American Nurses Association (ANA) standards on Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) recommend that healthcare facilities focus on establishing a culture of safety, adopting and implementing the SPHM program, and installing and maintaining SPHM technology. Similarly, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also recommends the use of lateral sliding to aid lateral transfer to support patient movement and repositioning.

Benefits

The benefits accrued from the Air Transfer devices include the following:

  • They enhance the quality of life for both caregivers and patients and better patient outcomes.SPH Medical Air Transfer Mat Single Patient Use
  • There are multiple economic benefits that are enormous, especially those associated with cost implications for direct medical expenses incurred due to injury, lost time, and workers’ compensation.
  • They address the top two high risk tasks that cause injury to nurses, repositioning and lateral transfers.
  • They assist in the transfer of patients with exceedingly less exertion, keeping patients well-positioned and comfortable.
  • The Single Patient Use design of the Air Transfer Mattress supports the hospitals infection prevention program and significantly reduces the risk of cross-contaminating other patients or surfaces with deadly pathogens.
  • The SPH Medical Air Transfer System addresses all lateral transfer needs in Surgery, ICU, Medical floors, imaging and in Labor and Delivery units.
  • Air Transfer Systems also assist transport staff and all departments to promote workplace efficiency by improving patient throughput while reducing risk of injury.

Integrating air-powered transfer and positioning solutions will benefit staff, patients, and the entire industry through improving efficiencies, reducing costs, and will fundamentally improve patient satisfaction and care.

Contact SPH Medical to discuss implementing evidence based safe patient mobility solutions in your facility or department.

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