A patient who is prescribed prolonged bed rest should not lie on a couch or sofa. Today, there are a sufficient number of manufacturers offering medical equipment for bedridden patients. It is not only more convenient for patients, but also more hygienic and better adapted to various care activities.
Bed for bed patients should meet certain requirements. The berth should have a height from the mattress to the floor of at least sixty to seventy centimeters. The bed for bed patients, as a rule, is equipped with castors to ensure ease of movement. In addition, the foot and head end are movable. This equipment for bedridden patients is often sanitized. To facilitate this procedure, a metal enameled case is used. The bed for bedridden patients should be equipped with side handrails, which are lowered when transformed. In addition, these elements provide safety, prevent the patient from falling, and are also used as a support during movement and standing.
To care for the sick at home, an ordinary bed can be converted into a bed for bed patients. To increase its height, rubber covers can be put on the legs and put on bricks or pads. If the patient sometimes gets out of bed, then the distance from the mattress to the floor should be forty-five to fifty centimeters. Thus, the greatest comfort is provided when getting up and laying on the bed. If the patient uses a wheelchair, then it must be at the same level with him.
It is necessary to arrange the bed in the room so that access to the patient is ensured from all sides. This will facilitate care and allow you to easily change the position of the patient's body. In the case when the bed stands close to the wall, the patient is almost always on one side. This contributes to the development of unilateral swelling, pressure sores, pneumonia due to insufficient ventilation of one lung.
Regarding the window, the bed should be positioned so that the patient does not interfere with bright light during daytime sleep. It is best to place it sideways to the window.
To care for the patient, the bed should be equipped with additional devices. These auxiliary components can reduce the load on individual parts of the patient’s body. So, the supporting frame is used to raise the upper part of the patient’s body during feeding, alleviating the condition with shortness of breath or receiving guests. An angled headrest or an inverted chair can be used as this support frame.
To activate the strength of the patient and facilitate his lifting, a bed cable is used. There should be knots on the rope to prevent slipping of hands.
A popliteal cushion is used to relax the muscles. You can make it by folding the blanket.
In order to prevent the patient from slipping to the foot edge of the bed, a footrest is used . You can use a box as it. Special coasters are also available. It should be noted that the use of such a "support" can prevent the development of "horse foot".
In order to free the body of the bed patient from the pressure of the blanket, a hinged wire frame is used. The blanket is refilled over the rods of the stand, thus avoiding heat loss.
To support the head, you can use the nape of the neck. However, its continued use causes a risk of damage to the cervical spine.
Due to the fact that the patient is in bed for a sufficiently long time, great attention should be paid to the convenience and cleanliness of the bed.