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Safety in the workplace is of the upmost importance for almost every business in America. Some may argue that the safety of hospital nurses may be the most important.

Nurses in hospitals all across the country are depended on daily for the care of injured, or sick people. The nurses at L.V. Stabler Hospital, member of the UAB Health system in Greenville are no exception.

According to L.V. Stabler Quality Director Johnny Till, transporting patients caused 57 percent of all nurse related injuries last year. Thanks to the acquisition of a new piece of equipment, Till said those numbers are already going down.

“We received a grant through the Healthcare Workers Compensation fund,” Till said. “The HWCF awarded $50,000 in grants for 2018-19. We received $10,000, and with the money purchased three Stella Best Stand patient assist lifters, and four bariatric wheel chairs.”

Till said the Stella Best Stand functions to help nurses with the task of getting patients from a sitting, or laying position to standing.

Debbie Bush is the Director of Nurses for med./surg. and the critical care unit at L.V. Stabler. She said the benefits of the new equipment were seen immediately.

“It can be very difficult to get a patient out of bed, and into a wheel chair when they can’t help themselves too much,” she said. “This piece of equipment has already been a big benefit. It helps us do our job to the best of our ability without worrying about getting injured.”

Till said the equipment arrived in July, and injuries to nurses have already declined.

“When you have nurses off the job it’s a strain on everyone,” he concluded. “They do very important work so keeping them safe is priority number one. We haven’t had a single injury since July. That’s something we’re very happy to report.”