FACTS
- Injuries and illnesses reported for nursing and residential care workers were significantly higher than those in construction, and 2-3 times higher than in retail or manufacturing. Almost half of the injuries and illnesses reported for nurses and nursing support staff were musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
- Work-related MSDs (including those of the neck, upper extremities, and low back) are a leading cause of lost workday injuries and illnesses for healthcare and social assistance workers, particularly in nursing homes and residential care facilities. Examples of MSDs include muscle strains and low back injuries, rotator cuff injuries (shoulder problems), and tendinitis.
- Examples of patient handling tasks that may be identified as high-risk include: transferring from toilet to chair, transferring from chair to bed, transferring from bathtub to chair, repositioning from side to side in bed, lifting a patient in bed, repositioning a patient in chair, or making a bed with a patient in it.
- prains and strains are the most often reported nature of injuries, and the shoulders and low back are the most affected body parts. The problem of lifting patients is compounded by the increasing weight of patients to be lifted due to the obesity epidemic in the United States and the rapidly increasing number of older people who require assistance with the activities of daily living.
STATS
- Berkeley’s Human Rights Center found that more than 1,100 threats or violent acts against health care workers and facilities occurred worldwide in 2020, with around 400 of those attacks related to Covid-19.
- In 2018 the incidence rate of intentional injury for nonfatal cases involving days away from work in the health care and social assistance was 13.9% 10,000 full-time workers (1,050 cases) in local government, and 89.3 (4,850 cases) in state government. The all-worker incidence rate for cases involving days away from work for local government was 163.9 and for state government was 142.6.
- There were 156 workplace homicides to private healthcare workers, averaging about 20 each year. The most common assailant in workplace homicides to healthcare workers was a relative or domestic partner of the injured worker.
- Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. financial system. It employs over 18 million workers. Women represent nearly 80% of the healthcare work force.
- U.S. healthcare workers experienced a staggering 249 % increase in injury and illness rates in 2020 while serving those in need. In fact, workers in the healthcare and social assistance industries combined, suffered more injuries and illnesses than workers in any industry in the nation.