Learning safe patient handling skills: Student nurse experiences of university and practice based education

SummaryIntroductionPoor patient handling practices increase nurse injuries and reduce patients’ safety and comfort.BackgroundUK Universities have a duty to prepare student nurses for patient handling activities occurring during clinical placements. This study examines students’ experiences of moving and handling education in academic and clinical settings.MethodsA 34 item questionnaire was distributed to student nurses at one School of Nursing (n = 432, response rate of 75%).ResultsMany students undertook unsafe patient handling practices and provided reasons for this. There was a medium statistically significant correlation between the variables ‘provision of supervision’ and ‘awareness of patient handling needs’ (rs = .390, p = .000). 40% of students stated that their M&H competency was assessed through direct observation. Twenty six percent of the total sample (n = 110), said they had begun to develop musculo–skeletal pain since becoming a student nurse. Forty-eight stated that this was caused by an incident whilst on placement.DiscussionInadequate patient handling practices threaten student nurse safety in clinical settings. Although some students may be overly confident, they should be supervised when undertaking M&H activities.ConclusionsThough important, University based M&H education will only be beneficial if students learn in clinical settings that take safe patient handling seriously.