Safe Resident Handling Policy at Heritage Ministries
Safety First
When someone is a resident at a skilled nursing facility, they may be weak. They may not be able to walk or move without help or assistance. Our staff may need to help a resident turn from side-to-side in bed, change their position, or transfer them from the bed to a chair.
An important part of providing our residents with safe care is how we help move or transfer them from one place to another. This is where safe resident handling is so important.
 Safe Resident Handling
“Safe resident handling“ is a safer way to help caregivers in a skilled nursing facility move and transfer skilled nursing residents. It is part of a “zero manual lift” approach that puts safety first.
Instead of manually lifting residents, Heritage Rehab and Nursing staff will now be using special kinds of equipment designed to safely and securely transfer and assist our skilled nursing residents to move.
Residents and the staff, will be safer as they move to or from bed, chair or stretcher. The lift can help residents when they might not be able to stand or walk without extra help and support.
Our staff will consider a resident's special needs to decide which equipment will work best to keep a resident and our caregivers as safe as possible.
Devices
Due to the physical demands of the job in a skilled nursing setting, nurses and other healthcare workers have one of the highest job-related injury rates of any occupation in the United States.
Devices such as ceiling-mounted lifts, total and stand assist lifts, mechanical lifts, walking belts, transfer bars, modified commode seats, slider sheets, friction-reducing devices, and stand and lift aids are designed to make the job easier.
The use of these devices improves the quality of care being delivered by increasing a resident's personal comfort level and ensuring consistency in our care delivery to them.
Moves
Lifts and devices are used to help our skilled nursing staff move residents more comfortably and safely:
- In and out of bed
- When repositioning in bed
- In and out of chairs / wheelchairs
- On and off the commode
- When assisting with walking
Standard of Care
- There is no safe manual lift from the floor
- Eliminate the manual lift of residents
- A two-person “assist” requires the use of appropriate equipment
- An assessment protocol determines the safest method of moving the resident
- A safe transfer requires both the cooperation of the resident and our staff's ability to bear weight of the individual being moved
 Lift Safety
The mechanical lifts that Heritage uses are very strong electronic lifts that help our staff to move, lift, and hold residents. They use a sling or vest connected to the lift to support a resident's body weight. While residents are in the sling, they will be in a standing or sitting-type position. Some lifts can be moved from room to room or are ceiling-mounted.
Residents are Safe Here
The staff at Heritage Ministries has been specifically trained to use the lifts and devices safely and securely. And because moving our residents is crucial to their circulatory well-being, lifts and devices improve the quality of care by keeping them comfortable while decreasing complications caused by immobility.
For further information, please contact:
Admissions, Heritage Ministries
150 Prather Avenue, Jamestown, NY 14701
(716) 484-6695, Fax (716) 985-6617
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