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Creating a Safe Client Handling Culture in the Challenging Environment of Emergency Departments

Relative to other industries in B.C., there continues to be high rates of musculoskeletal injuries within the healthcare industry. Emergency Departments are faced with unique challenges due to their often faced-paced, chaotic environments. The unpredictable patient populations of emergency departments result in unpredictable demands on staff, particularly around patient mobility. This project proposes to develop, deliver, and examine the effect of embedding a safe client handling expert in to the emergency department team, ultimately incorporating safe client handling into the clinical practice in the emergency department. This intervention is intended to result in reduced injuries and improved teamwork, work organization and overall safety culture within the work unit.

Principal Applicant:

Martha Cloutier (Fraser Health Authority)

Co-applicants: Nermin Helal, Leah Thomas-Olson, Alison Hutchison (Fraser Health Authority)
Funding Awarded: $50,000 (Innovation)

Competition Year: 2010 File type: PDF (3 MB) Asset type: Research Research: RS2010-IG18