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Here’s How Nursing Jobs Could Get a Lot Safer

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By Claire Zillman / Fortune

What’s the occupation that reports the most debilitating worker injuries?

It’s not factory work, or hazardous jobs on an oil rig or a construction site. It’s nursing.

Nurses and nursing assistants are plagued by back and arm injuries from lifting and moving patients on a daily basis, and hospitals have done little to prevent those injuries.

On Thursday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will announce an effort to crack down on hospitals for such failures for the very first time. The agency’s chief David Michaels told NPR that OSHA will no longer just recommend safe practices for hospitals; it will actually fine hospitals for not adopting them.

Studies have shown that the best way for nurses to move patients is with special equipment such as ceiling lifts. OSHA’s new enforcement program will examine the types of machines hospitals own and the way hospitals train their staff to use them.

Michaels told NPR: “Sadly, there will be some hospitals where we find significant ergonomic hazards, and they are at risk for serious penalties.” Fines will likely total $7,000 per hospital, but could reach as high as $70,000 in instances of deliberate violations.

LIFE's Cover Story on Nursing in the 1930s

Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital.
Caption from LIFE. Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. Many of the 49 nurses peering into the stair well have no caps. This means that they are novices.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. During their first six months student nurses must take calisthenics one night a week under a trained gym teacher.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. The first two weeks see the new nurse inducted into the ethics of her profession. She listens to talks on life in New York, on living with a group, on the problems of hospital administration. At first she has to buy her own blue uniform, black stockings and low-heeled shoes. After she has been capped, the hospital supplies the uniform.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. Ward duty begins at 7 am, when nurses meet with the head day nurse (center), who relays to them the report left by the head night nurse. She here explains the chart of a patient in the male surgical ward (in background). Striped garb indicates capped nurses; white uniforms, graduate nurses. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. Novices dissect their first frog in anatomy.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. After dinner nurses read in library or dance together in reception room.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. On Saturday, nurses may go out till midnight. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. Operating room duty is the most interesting part of a nurse's life. Not till the end of her first year is she considered prepared for it.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. In the first month the new student learns to make beds. She begins with a dummy known in the Roosevelt Hospital as "Helen Chase." Behind stands instructor in nursing arts.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Student nurse with children at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. Like nuns, the young student nurses march down the main corridor of the Roosevelt Hospital on their way from classrooms to wards.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Student nurses at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, 1938.
Caption from LIFE. "Capping" services take place in the reception room of the Nurses' Home. The novices, having successfully passed examinations for their crucial first six months, are now permitted to wear bibbed apron, the striped uniform and the cap of the full-fledged student nurse.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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