Management Support for Other Departments
Management support should encompass more than just the workers who are responsible for direct patient care. Departments such as laundry, maintenance, and engineering are vital to supporting safe patient handling. Those departments maintain equipment, supply clean slings, and troubleshoot facility design issues.
It is also a good idea for management to talk to and collaborate with employee union representatives before launching or expanding a safe patient handling program.
At hospitals that have successfully reduced patient handling injuries, it is common to find administrators who support and promote a culture of safety. While weighing the benefits of investing in safe patient handling policies, procedures, training, and equipment, however, hospital administrators may need to fully understand how these investments impact their bottom line.
We will take a closer look at evaluating the effectiveness of a safe patient handling program in module 4 of this course.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-8. What should management do before launching or expanding a safe patient handling program?
- Post a reminder on the employee bulletin board
- Tell employees what management will impose on employees
- Collaborate with employee union representatives
- Launch the program and then tell employees about it
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