The clinical literature and clinical evidence shows that ease-of-use is critical to adopting mobility equipment. Nurses report that many repositioning devices take too long to operate, which is a barrier to use of assistive devices (Noble & Sweeney 2020).
Data from OSHA and the Worker’s Compensation Research Institute shows that a workplace injury costs $38,000 or more to replace a nurse due to occupational musculoskeletal disorders. According to Thomas Waters “When is it Safe to Manually Lift a Patient?”, almost all patients require more than 35 lbs to move and thus require durable medical equipment for patient mobility. NIOSH and the National Safety Council recommend a 35-lbs lifting limit for hospital staff.
Another study is “Improving the Safety of Patient Turning and Repositioning Tasks for Caregivers”, by Guy Fragala, PhD, PE, CSP, CSPHP; Maren Fragala, PhD, CSCSD.