December 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
Nursing has never been a particularly easy profession, even without a pandemic to further complicate matters. A recent McKinsey survey found that 22% of nurses providing direct patient care indicated they may leave their current position within the next year. Without the proper Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant equipment, nurses and caregivers face greater threats of on-the-job injury and exhaustion in a time where healthcare workers are already stretched to their limits.
According to Ray Gagne EET, CFE, NADEP, “Nursing is the profession most associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders and back injuries. Anywhere from 35 to 80 percent of nurses sustain back injuries during their career from lifting patients, and these injuries are the single largest cause of lost workdays among nurses.”
The nursing profession has always had issues with injuries and burnout. There have been numerous reports, in publications like Fit2Work and MMWR, that illustrate that healthcare workers are seven times more likely to experience musculoskeletal disorders than other private sector employees. Patient movement and transfers are the most significant contributor to these injuries. Doctors and dentists don’t experience the same injuries because it isn’t their job to transfer patients. As healthcare systems prepare to purchase new equipment, the nursing staff should be consulted on whether ADA compliant exam or procedure chairs would reduce the likelihood of injuries.
For disabled patients, ADA compliance is a bigger issue. Often, individuals with disabilities do not have accessibility to medical and dental diagnostic equipment. In these cases, nurses have to physically transfer disabled patients, increasing the likelihood of injury to the patient and the nurse. Most exam chairs and procedure tables do not have a low enough surface to accommodate transfers from a wheelchair, as well as transfer supports or handrails to enable patients to transfer themselves.
Establishing regulations
With a reputation for innovation in medical and dental equipment since 1999, MTI was invited in 2010 to consult the Federal Access Board that wrote the current ADA regulations. Jeff Baker, CEO of MTI, and many other staff members listened to the voices of nurses and disabled patients to understand what needed to be done.
With a newfound appreciation for the challenges that caregivers and disabled patients were facing, MTI worked to establish new regulations to improve equipment compliance and ensure that patients are never in a compromising or unsafe position. MTI established regulations for M301 tables in the lying down position, mostly seen in OB/GYN and general practitioners offices, and M302 chairs in the seated position, most often used in podiatry, dermatology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, and oral and plastic surgery. MTI also pushed for a lower entry height of 17 to 19 inches to accommodate patients transferring from a chair. Transfer surfaces need to be a certain size and dimension, and the device needs to have a sturdy transfer support rail next to the transfer surface.
Indeed, MTI is an industry leader in designing better equipment for healthcare systems, not only for nurses and caregivers, but also for the disabled patients they treat on a daily basis.