Abstract
To improve the safety of healthcare workers, a movement is gaining support in this country to limit the manual performance of high-risk patient care tasks. Many states have passed legislation-mandating policies aimed at protecting employees from injuries related to patient handling. Federal legislation has been proposed 3 times, each time moving farther along the process toward passage into law. This article describes the steps taken in the planning and implementation of a Safe Patient Handling/Minimal Lift Program in a 380-bed, licensed, not-for-profit, east coast acute care hospital.