A comparison of manual patient transfer training in an academic and clinical environment

It has been suggested that the high risk of injury for nurses may be due in part to a lack of proper or adequate training for manual patient transfers (MPTs). Surveys from 163 student and 33 staff nurses were analyzed to determine which MPTs they perceived having received training for, use most often, and have greatest confidence performing. Overall it was found that nurses perceived being trained on four MPTs; the same four they indicated they use most often and had the greatest confidence performing. However, these MPTs are not currently taught as part of the nursing curriculum at the local university. This indicates that there is a disconnect between the local academic and clinical environments. It is suggested that more explicit and formal training is needed in both environments to promote safer patient handling tasks. Recommendations to revise training protocols at the academic and clinical environments are provided.