In About Inpatient Transfers, you can learn about devices, guidelines, and body mechanic techniques to keep your patients and yourself safe during inpatient transfers. In Inpatient Transfers: Best Practices vs Reality, you’ll see the application of the information in that CE module with several examples of what happens when best practices for inpatient transfers are not followed.

We’ll follow Maria, a newly certified patient care technician, as she completes her first two weeks of on the job training at a big city nursing home. Starting a new career is a big adjustment under the best of circumstances, but Maria has concerns about her new workplace. It quickly becomes clear that the reality of transferring patients in this nursing home is not ideal for the patients or the staff.

Maria’s grandmother had multiple sclerosis. She grew up visiting her in a smaller nursing home. There, the nurses and aids worked at a considerate, gentle pace to help her grandmother complete daily tasks, such as getting out of bed or going to the bathroom. She appreciated how comfortable the staff made her grandmother feel. It’s what inspired her to become a patient care technician. Unfortunately, her coworkers at her new job don’t seem to provide the same gentle care during patient transfers.

On her first day, Maria doesn’t feel comfortable using unfamiliar equipment to transfer a patient who is paralyzed from the neck down. Her trainer is irritable that she requires further instruction. Next, she witnesses her trainer rush an unsteady patient while ambulating. On her third day, Maria is shocked to find that she is expected to transfer a patient alone due to short staffing. She knows that transfer would be safer if a second staff member assisted. After witnessing these and other events that don’t follow the guidelines she learned in her PCT training program, she decides to reach out to her supervisor.

With your help, Maria will outline why the patient transfer techniques that she’s seen in her first two weeks are unsafe and develop a plan to begin implementing best practices for patient transfers at her workplace.

After you complete Transfers: Best Practices vs Reality, you’ll be prepared to:  

• Describe the risks to PCTs involved in inpatient transfers
• Explain best practices for minimizing risks to PCTs during inpatient transfers
• Identify safety concerns for patients during inpatient transfers
• Explain what to do when a patient injury occurs
• Plan what to do when best practices are not followed

Are you ready to apply what you’ve learned about safe inpatient transfers? Log in to your NHA account to get started.