BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1136
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1136 (Swanson)
As Amended May 31, 2011
Majority vote
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 5-1
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|Ayes:|Swanson, Alejo, Allen, | | |
| |Furutani, Yamada | | |
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|Nays:|Morrell | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the Hospital Patient and Health Care
Worker Injury Protection Act (Act) to require hospitals to adopt
a safe patient handling policy. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Act to require all general acute care
hospitals (hospitals) to do the following:
a) Maintain a safe patient handling policy at all times for
all patient care units;
b) Provide trained life teams or other support staff
trained in safe lifting techniques; and,
c) Provide training to health care workers on the
appropriate use of lifting devices and equipment to handle
patients safely and the five areas of body exposure:
vertical, lateral, bariatric, repositioning, and
ambulation.
2)Requires all hospitals to develop a written safe patient
handling policy by January 1, 2013.
3)Requires a registered nurse, as the coordinator of care, to be
responsible for the observation and direction of patient lifts
and mobilization and participate as needed in patient handling
in accordance with the nurse's job description.
4)Defines "lift team" as hospital employees specifically trained
to handle patient lifts, repositioning, and transfers using
patient transfer, repositioning or lifting devices as
AB 1136
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appropriate for the specific patient.
5)Adds to the definition of "lift team" allowing lift team
members to perform other assigned duties during their shift.
6)Defines "safe patient handling policy" as a policy that
requires replacement of manual lifting and transferring of
patients with powered patient transfer devices, lifting
devices, or lift teams, as appropriate for the specific
patient and consistent with the employer's safety policies and
the professional judgment and clinical assessment of a
registered nurse.
7)Requires employers to adopt a patient protection and health
care worker back and musculoskeletal injury prevention plan as
part of their injury and illness prevention program.
8)Prohibits a hospital from taking disciplinary action against a
health care worker who refuses to lift, reposition, or
transfer a patient due to the worker's concerns about his or
her patient's safety and his or her own personal safety and
the lack of available trained lift team personnel or
appropriate lifting equipment.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, registered nurses (RNs)
manually lift an estimated 1.8 tons, or 3,600 pounds, per shift.
Each time an RN lifts a patient, the RN has a 75% chance of
injuring his or her back. The author notes that nursing surveys
reveal that 83% of RNs work in spite of back pain, while 52%
report chronic back pain. The author states that, when RNs
leave, their employers spend $40,000 to $60,000 to train and
orient their replacements.
According to 2009 data from the federal Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), in the private industry, 18% (172,820 cases)
of all occupational injuries and illnesses occurred in health
care and social assistance industries at a higher incidence rate
than all other private industry occupations. In addition, BLS
data show that the most common injuries suffered by nurses
include musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and overexertion.
Six states - Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island,
Texas and Washington - have laws that mandate a form of safe
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patient handling or the use of lifting equipment. In 2005,
Texas became the first state to require both hospitals and
nursing homes to establish a policy for safe patient handling
and movement. In 2006, Washington became the first state to
mandate the use of lift equipment by hospitals. Washington uses
tax credits and reduced workers' compensation premiums to
financially assist hospitals with the purchasing of lift
equipment.
The California Nurses Association (CNA) states that over 12% of
the nursing workforce leaves the occupation because of back
injuries each year. They note that this bill is a triple win
policy; it safely cares for patients, saves the state's nursing
workforce and saves hospitals money. The Association of
California Healthcare Districts (ACHD) states that patient
transfers are the number one loss driver for hospitals through
workers' compensation claims. ACHD asserts that preventing
turnover from lift related injuries will save hospitals money in
the long run and this bill will help prevent work related
injuries in district hospitals.
In a letter that expresses their oppose unless amended position,
the California Hospital Association (CHA) writes that several
key provisions of this bill are ambiguous and, if interpreted
narrowly, would prove problematic and potentially interfere with
hospitals' ability to provide quality patient care. The
California Children's Hospital Association (CCHA), writes that
this bill does not allow any flexibility and its
one-size-fits-all approach is problematic for children's
hospitals because it fails to recognize that much of the lifting
done in children's hospitals include that of newborns, infants
and young children.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinley / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091
FN: 0000980