Hoyer Lift Injuries

Hoyer lifts, or mechanical lifts, are devices used to transfer heavy or completely dependent patients. The lifts are designed to protect both patient and worker from injury during transfer. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), first reports of employee muscle injury dropped 35% after implementing the use of mechanical lifts. However, improper use of a Hoyer lift can still result in minor to severe injury to the patient. Nurses and nurse aides must learn about the proper use of the Hoyer lift.

Types of Injury

• Common injuries to patients from a Hoyer lift are skin tears or burns. Hoyer lifts are commonly used in nursing facilities housing elderly residents. Elderly skin is very thin and delicate. Even the smallest touch of metal against the skin can result in an open wound. The metal from the hooks attaching the sling to the lift could scrape against patient skin during transfer if the hook is attached incorrectly. The patient may also suffer cloth burns or scraped skin from the sling if lifted too quickly and roughly.

  Occasionally, due to improper handling procedures or inability to follow nursing facility guidelines, patients may suffer severe injury or even death in the event the machine collapses, the sling becomes loose in mid-transfer, or the patient falls from the sling.

Cause

• The cause of almost all Hoyer lift injuries is inattention and inability to follow procedure. As seen in the Citrus Nursing Center case, the patient was transferred improperly according to nursing facility guidelines. Two nurse aides were needed to complete the transfer but one attempted the transfer on her own. The patient fell from the sling, sustained a blunt injury to the head and died nine days later. A Hoyer lift rarely malfunctions. However, human mistakes are made while using these lifts, resulting in injury or death.

Further Complications

• Skin tears from the lift may become infected and cause severe health complications, especially in bed-ridden elderly patients. However, the psychological fear of the lift is the most serious complication of all. A patient that has had a bad experience with a Hoyer lift may develop a fear of the lift, even though transferring with the lift is safer than transferring without the lift. He may become aggressive at the sight of the lift and attempt to assault health-care workers. He may struggle in the lift, putting himself in danger of falling.

Prevention

• Always inform the patient that you will be using the lift and that transferring with the lift is safer than transferring without the lift. Keep the patient calm. When placing a patient in a Hoyer lift sling, the employee must ensure that the hooks are placed correctly and the sling is sturdy. The worker must use extreme caution when lifting and transferring the patient. He must never jolt or quickly transfer the patient. Although two employees are not needed to use the lift, working the lift with a partner is the surest way to reduce the risk of injury. One person should work the lift while the other stabilizes the movement of the sling and the patient. Should an accident occur, the second worker will be there as a spotter.

Reminder

• Employee and patient injuries have dramatically dropped ever since Hoyer lifts have been used and mandated. The lift protects the employee from back injury or strain and gives a resident a stable and safe transfer. Severe accidents with the lift do happen, but usually as a result of poor handling and technique.