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My name is Habibeh (my friends call me Hab) and I am an acute care nurse at
My colleagues and I need your help right away.
Last year, I suffered the second serious back injury in my career while lifting a patient from his bed to a wheelchair. The pain I felt at that moment was like I’d been shot in the back; it disabled me and I could only get relief from the pain by lying down. Happily, I did not drop the patient who I’d already transferred to the chair.
My colleagues took me to the emergency department where I received morphine for the pain and an anti-inflammatory to reduce swelling. This injury put me out of action and off work for seven months. If you have ever had a lower back injury, you know about the pain that seems to go on forever. This injury produced the worst pain I have ever experienced. Months of physiotherapy were needed before I could go back to work. I was on worker’s compensation for during this time and to this day, am very careful how I lift heavy objects for fear of reinjuring my back.
Did you know that lower back injury is the most common work-related injury suffered by health care workers? (Source:
With the nursing shortages that currently plague BC, one more factor in longer wait times for hospital services, we cannot afford for a single nurse to lose one day off work. Not only is it costly for society, but it has a ripple effect throughout the hospital. Happily, we can guard against lower back injury. There is an answer. This year,
The advantage to the immobile patient is obvious. Improved mobility is liberating. Instead of being completely confined to bed during recuperation, the patient can be safely lifted from the bed to a wheel chair for transportation to therapy or the toilet or tub. For the patient, the key benefit is safety and convenience. For the nurse and care giver, the benefit is also convenience and safety.
Eagle Ridge is a busy hospital. Last year, forty thousand people visited the emergency room seeking care. Our operating rooms and day surgery suites accommodated 6,300 surgical procedures. And 5,000 people were admitted to a hospital bed, 3,400 of them coming straight from the emergency room. Potentially, that’s a lot of lifting. Most of the time, we can manage a 95 lb. woman but a man who weights 260 lbs. presents another kind of challenge altogether. You can imagine how patient lifts will make the life of every patient and nurse a little easier.
You may be surprised when I tell you that each ceiling-mounted patient lift costs $12,500. That’s a hefty $175,000 for all fourteen lifts. Can you believe they cost that much?
I understand it is not always easy for you to find the money for a good cause. That’s why I am asking you to think of your gift as an investment in your community hospital. A wise choice today may provide you, or a family member, friend or neighbour with a solution to a medical problem tomorrow.
Please give what you can.
Sincerely,
Habibeh Amjadi-Sardoroudi RN
