5 Best Practices for Transporting Patients
Safely transporting patients from one location to another is an important step in the care process that can involve movement to a different surface, department, or facility. In acute care environments, such as hospitals, transfers can be complex and entail many clinical elements. Even in outpatient settings, transports must be handled with care and clinical expertise.
Whether you want to put transport policies in place for the first time, or you’re hoping to bolster your facility’s existing measures , we’re here to help. We’ll go over the reasons that transfers are so crucial to patient (and staff) safety, and give you examples that illustrate what a high-quality transport would look like from start to finish. We’ll also give you five best practices for transferring patients, so that you’ll know if your facility is set up for success.
What Is Patient Transportation?
Healthcare facilities, especially hospitals, typically contain distinct areas where patients receive specific types of interventions. Patient transportation is the movement of a patient from one place to another so that they can receive the appropriate care.
Transporting patients in a hospital, otherwise known as intrahospital transport, is essential for comprehensive care because single departments aren’t equipped to provide all of the necessary treatments, tests, and interventions. For example, a patient may need to go from a hospital bed on a medical floor to a radiology department for an MRI.
Even within one patient room, a patient may need to be relocated from the bed to a chair so that they can participate in certain activities, like eating or occupational therapy. Some patients have limited mobility, and require assistance from staff and equipment for relocation.
What Is Involved in Transporting Patients?
Transporting patients from one place to another involves adherence to safe patient handling principles and agency policies before, during, and after the relocation. Here’s a breakdown of these three phases, and examples of the patient transfer techniques that may be used.
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Why Is the Movement of Patients Important?
The movement of patients throughout a facility is a critical aspect of the provision of care, affecting short-term and long-term outcomes for the patient and facility. Safe, high-quality, efficient relocations contribute to a positive experience for the patient. Swift relocations can also have a significant impact on the patient’s health concerns, such as when a bleeding patient is quickly transferred to an operating room for emergency surgery. Seen in a big-picture view, this operational efficiency establishes and maintains a good patient flow (or throughput) for the facility.
5 Best Practices for Patient Transportation at Your Facility
There is a broad range of ways in which patients are moved between care environments. Patient transfers can last minutes or hours. They can be as simple as sliding a patient from the bed to a stretcher with a back board, or as complex as loading them into a helicopter for a care flight.
Regardless of the duration or complexity, common principles apply. It’s up to facility leaders, like you, to put high standards in place. Here are five best practices to foster safe and efficient patient transfer techniques at your facility.
1. Ensure Infection Control Measures are Visible and Accessible
Nosocomial infections, or hospital-acquired infections (HAI), remain a challenge in modern healthcare despite the increased awareness of the need for high standards of infection control. It’s estimated that 1 out of 31 hospitalized patients in the U.S. has an HAI, contributing to negative outcomes such as longer stays, antibiotic resistance, and costly care. In one study, researchers found that each intrahospital transfer resulted in a 9% increase in the chance of getting a nosocomial infection.
To prevent the transmission of pathogens, all staff members who assist with the transfer should know exactly what infection control measures are in place for the patient. Ensure signage is clear and easily visible. If gowns and masks will be needed when in the room, place them within easy reach. Provide easy access to hand hygiene stations and personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gowns, and gloves.
2. Make Assistive Devices Readily Available
The equipment necessary for transporting a patient in a hospital should be easy to find. Ensure storage areas are well marked and accessible. For example, a unit with two main hallways could hang plastic transfer boards at outlying nursing stations in each hallway, making them easy for staff to grab and use.
3. Match the Task to the Appropriate Skill Level
It’s crucial that staff members who oversee transfers are trained and have the correct level of credentialing. For example, unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) may help a stable patient into a wheelchair and to the hospital lobby during discharge. However, it would be inappropriate to match the same UAP to the task of moving a critically ill patient from the emergency department to the intensive care unit — a task better suited to a critical care transport team.
Critically ill patients are more likely to experience unwanted events during the course of the transfer. The personnel accompanying them need to be trained to respond. It’s common for hospitals to have patient transport requirements in place to ensure at least one trained clinician is with a patient who’s unstable during relocations.
4. Prioritize Patient and Staff Safety
Moving patients creates a risk for both the patient and the staff members who are providing assistance, but policies can help to safeguard the patient and your staff. For example, a facility may enforce the use of mechanical lifts and assistive devices when moving patients above specific weight limits. This lowers the risk of falls for the patient, while also reducing the risk of injury for staff.
5. Encourage a Person-Centered Care Model
Though moving patients is a logistical necessity, it should never be considered purely on those terms. Instead, encourage staff to use a person-centered approach that demonstrates respect and dignity. This attitude can be introduced as soon as staff is onboarded, and reinforced regularly. Remind new members of the transport team that every touchpoint on the patient journey can have a therapeutic effect, even if it’s merely an emotional lift during an elevator ride.
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