Patient safety and comfort during transfers in relation to nurses' work technique

The work technique used by health care professionals in patient transfer tasks affects the musculoskeletal load on the professionals, but probably also the safety and well-being of patients being transferred; it is thus a matter of quality of care.

The aim of this paper is to report a study exploring the relations between the work technique of nurses in patient transfer tasks, and patients' perceptions of safety and comfort during the transfers.

The work technique used by 102 nurses at orthopaedic wards to perform two common patient transfers: one transfer higher up in bed and one from bed to wheelchair, were examined using video recordings and an observation instrument. A work technique score for each performed transfer was calculated, indicating the level of musculoskeletal safety for the nurse. Nurses assessed their own work technique and patients rated the perceived safety and comfort on bipolar scales directly after each transfer.

Patients' perceptions of safety and comfort were positively correlated to the work technique score in both transfers. Patients felt safer and more comfortable during transfers performed with a safe technique, according to the work technique score, than during those performed with a poor technique. Patients' ratings of safety in the transfer from bed to wheelchair, and their ratings of comfort in both transfers, were positively correlated to nurses' assessments of their own work technique. However, the correlation coefficients were rather low.

The results support the existence of a relationship between nurses' skills in patient transfers and quality of patient care.