Reminds me of a story.
I had just come into work one day and I coudnt find anyone at the nurses station but a monitor tech. Seems they were all in this one room.
I walked around and saw about 5 nurses struggling with this patient. He looked to be over 6 ft tall, about 250lbs and strong as a foot ball player. He looked like "Paul Bunyon" He had red hair and a full beard and was fighting with the nursing staff, spitting and calling names.
"whats up?" I said, and one of them turned to me and said "DTs"
I rolled my eyes. That meant Delierum Tremens...or Detox...were are talking about an alcholic patient going through withdrawals.
As they were restraining the patient (tying him to the bed with soft padded wrist and ankle tie downs), one of the nurses was leaning directly over him.
This particular nurse was about 5ft nothing and probably weighed around 100 lbs.
The patient completely flexed and withdrew his right leg nearly touching his abdomen, placed it on her chest, and then did a full extension with as much speed and power as he could muster (which when in DTs is alot).
She was airborne. At least 3 to 4 feet without ever touching the ground. She slammed against a window....6 stories high. The glass cracked and that "spider web" pattern covered the window. She fell directly to the floor in a pile of flesh. Slumped over and said "ive had a bad day" and begin crying uncontrollably. Then she laid prone in the floor and had to be lifted up.
Unfortunately, this type of scene is not at all uncommon in a typical inpatient hospital setting. Id say I saw this or somthing equally unsettling happend to an underserving nurse at least 1 to 2 times a month.
If that bed had been a foot closer to the window, she probably would have went through the glass and fell to her death...which would have been more luck than an RN at a VA in North Carolina had in 96 when she was strangled to the point of permenant brain damage in an elevator, or an MD in the ER bathroom around Winston Salem (I think it was) who was shot 5 times because he wouldnt prescribe narcotis to a junkie.
The stories go on and on and on like that....
PS, Im in ok shape. Fairly strong. I can do some fairly acrobatic Tae Kwon Do kicks quite efficiently (like a spinning crscent, back, or jump cresent or even a spinning sweep). I can work in the yard all day, I use a push mower, I always take the steps and never the elevator. Yet the moment I do anything with a lifting type motion I immediately feel it in my lower back. After just a few minutes of that my lower back muscles get tight and will even begin to spasm. If I continue the spasms will get so bad I literally wont be able to stand up or do anything without being in agony.
Im convinced a large % of the problem is directly related to injuries and strains I have gotten over the years lifting patients.
Now if a fit, atheletic, strong young male who used to roof houses without batting an eye has this problem....imagine what others must go though?
Lifting a person is an entirely different animal than lifting a box, or a bundle of shingles, or even a piece of furniture. Its much much more awkward, much much harder, and much more difficult to do without injuring yourself. At least the furniture doesnt suddenly shift, give out, or lunge towards you. And with a piece of furniture you can just...fuck it let it drop. Wtih a patient youll do what ever it takes not to drop them....including sacrificing yourself or taking injury under their weight.
Do that a few times...and your back is never going to be the same for the rest of your life. Thats it, game over, your screwed with a life long problem in probably one of the most debilitating areas of the body to have a weakness in....
