Several developments point to safe patient handling becoming an increasing focus of regulators, making it a good idea to review your hospital’s policies and protocols to get ahead of potential changes.

Many states, including Washington, Texas, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Rhode Island, have enacted safe patient handling laws (Texas was the first, in 2006), and several other states have pending bills.

On the national scene, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has introduced a safety patient handling bill.