Safelift
A way to reduce patient handling related low back injuries
in nursing assistants (NAs) at long term care (LTC) facilities
to reduce operational costs for LTC facilities
Problem
Imagine you're a nursing assistant. You're at the end of shift and your back is on fire. You have been turning and handling patients for much of the duration of you're shift. And it's not just the back pain affecting you. It's beginning to affect your quality of life and now you're beginning to miss days at work. This isn't a problem uncommon to the nursing assistant population, where annual prevalence is as high as 53%.
Solution
Inflatable Turning Pad Concept
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Nurse Assistant (NA): Simplifies patient turning and repositioning tasks.
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Patient: Remains comfortably on their back and is gently rolled to the left or right side as needed.
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Inflatable Mechanism: Positioned beneath the patient, with independent left and right inflation to facilitate precise turning.
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Bedsheet Integration: A positioning pad lies beneath the bedsheet, ensuring ease of cleaning and enhanced comfort.
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Airflow System: Inflates and deflates through dedicated left and right channels, powered by a built-in, battery-operated, or external pump.
Some ideas out of brainstorming
Final concept
Duration of the project: 1 month
Co-authors: Samanta Preston, Bingyi Wang, Jon Freise, Perry Nielsen