By Michelle Lizon
A BYU team from the mechanical engineering capstone program recently developed Ergonurse, a machine that lifts and resituates patients in bed, to reduce the risk of back injuries among nurses.
The $100,000 project was funded by Elizabeth White, who sold her home in California and used the equity to finance Ergonurse. She decided to finance the project after she injured her back in 2003. Her work as a nurse ended in 1988 when doctors told her nothing could be done to fix her back because so many of the discs were destroyed.
'I injured myself because my patient weighed 380 pounds, and I couldn''t let him bend,' she said. 'You''re taught good body mechanics, but you can''t actually lift that way - it''s a joke.'
She said although many lifting machines currently assist nurses, none of them effectively reposition patients in bed, without causing stress on the back.
BYU team members Josh Oldham, Jason Silvenis, Jason Quincy, Gerrit Larsen, Andrew Rosenvall, Bret Nicholson, Stefano Demartin and their coach Andrew May began the project from scratch last semester.
'As a team we did not have a machine that we could pattern our design after,' Silvenis said. 'Ergonurse was totally new as were many of its components.'
They designed Ergonurse to turn and pull patients up in bed, which does not require nurses to lift.
Many patients need to be turned frequently to prevent pressure sores, which are caused by staying in the same position too long, from developing.
'Most of the nurses at my hospital did not turn their patients every two hours, mostly because it is so hard to get staff members to help,' White said. 'Also, many are very well aware of the dangers of back injury.'
White said more than 50 percent of all nurses complain of chronic back pain. Hospitals and nursing homes spend about $2 billion per year on workers'' compensation insurance for injuries directly related to patient care, she said.
'We had to make something that not only worked but would be a machine nurses would actually use, hospitals would want and investors would be excited about,' Silvenis said. 'That is not so easy.'
White said hospitals will recuperate their expenditures on the machine in about two years. An Ergonurse will cost between $2,000 and $2,500, she said, depending on what it will cost to manufacture the machine.
Although a patent was recently filed for Ergonurse, team leader Josh Oldham said modifications would need to be made on the machine before it goes to market, which will hopefully be in September.