A serious illness of one of the family members or a deterioration in health due to respectable age is a serious test for all relatives. In our country, bedridden patients are discharged home, provided there is no need for inpatient treatment. For the first time in a similar situation, the patient’s loved ones are lost and do not know how to organize life and arrange timely implementation of medical prescriptions. Meanwhile, care for bedridden patients at home is a daily work that requires the mastery of a number of rules, provided that it is performed by a lay person.
Room preparation
Regardless of living conditions, the bedridden patient should be allocated a separate room. If no improvement is expected in the near future, it makes sense to immediately purchase a special bed. Such furniture is adjustable overall height and separately legs / head. Position the bed so that you can approach it from two sides. It is convenient to put a bedside table or a table next to the bed. Here, care products will be stored, and on top in the bedding range - water and the things he needs. The room in which the bed patient is located is best not to be forced into a large amount of furniture. Be sure to monitor the air temperature and light level. If possible, use devices that clean and moisturize the air.
Communication method
If the patient does not get up on his own, you need to figure out how he will attract attention. In our age of high technology, it is easiest to leave a separate cell phone on the bedside room and charge it regularly. Choose simple models with a fairly large screen and large font, as well as convenient buttons. The classic option is to use a bell or battery doorbell . If bedridden patients are cared for at home in a large apartment or house, a rational decision is to purchase a walkie-talkie or baby monitor. These tools work constantly and completely free of charge.
General recommendations
In the room where the patient is, do wet cleaning daily, and once every 10 days - disinfection. If the room does not have air conditioning or other air-purifying equipment, it is necessary to open the windows or windows for ventilation. The regularity depends on the air temperature outside the window and the wishes of the patient. Try to organize your leisure activities as varied as possible. If the person is conscious, invite him to watch TV or listen to audio books. In the absence of problems with the functioning of the upper extremities, be sure to highlight the patient a personal computer and bring new books. Not a single miracle of technology can replace live communication - ask who the patient would like to invite and try to fulfill his wishes.
Care for bed patients at home: tools
One of the biggest difficulties in caring for relatives bedridden is the organization of a toilet. If there is no incontinence problem and a person can get up, place a special portable toilet near the bed. For those who can not always control natural desires, it is useful to
lay a bed with oilcloth under the sheet. In this case, it is convenient to use disposable absorbent diapers and diapers. Get modern electronic devices - a tonometer and a thermometer. It is also convenient to put his cosmetics and medicines in the patient’s personal bedside table. Home bed care should be scheduled. If you need to take several medications daily, write a schedule for their distribution for yourself and clearly follow it. Be sure to carefully read the annotations to the pharmacological products, some funds must be given before meals, and others - only after.
Hygiene procedures
The daily routine of the sick person should be as close to normal as possible. Be sure to keep your morning and evening wash. Well, if a person is able to wash himself and brush his teeth. If this is not possible, help him with this. It is necessary to wash the whole body daily. To do this, add a little vodka or cologne to warm water and wipe the skin with a swab soaked in this liquid. Periodically use baby cream or special ointments after showering. Every day you need to clean your nose and ears, use cotton buds moistened with oil or glycerin for this. As you grow back, cut your nails, it is advisable to cut the hair also short, this will facilitate the care of them. You need to wash your head as it gets dirty. If the average length of the hair is still preserved, comb it daily, make a comfortable hairstyle - a braid or a pair of free tails.
How to avoid pressure sores
Pressure ulcers appear in those places where the blood supply to the skin is disturbed. Aggravating factors - constant contact with rubbing tissue, dry skin or accumulation of sweat. The main prevention of this unpleasant phenomenon is daily hygienic care in combination with massage and exercise therapy as prescribed by your doctor. When immobilizing the body of the diseased, it is necessary to regularly turn over, give the opportunity to be in different poses. For example, if there was a stroke, bedridden patient care necessarily includes a daily examination of the body. Most often, bedsores appear in the groin, armpits and other folds of the skin. Often they are found on the legs. All these places require special attention - remove sweat in a timely manner and lubricate with cream if the skin dries - this is regular care for bedridden patients. Pressure ulcers can be treated with special ointments and creams. If skin lesions are already noticeable, you should purchase special pads for these places. Without this accessory, damage cannot be healed effectively. There are many popular recipes against bedsores. Keep in mind - you can use them only after consulting with your doctor.
Daily regime
Care for bed patients at home should have a clear schedule. Develop and write down an individual schedule taking into account the needs of the patient, his well-being and capabilities. Allocate time for hygiene, meals, medical manipulations and rest. If the patient controls the upper limbs and is awake most of the day, still agree with him to restrict watching TV and reading. Remember: during illness, even a pleasant overfatigue will not bring benefits. Most often, the care of bedridden elderly patients is associated with the greatest number of difficulties. There are two reasons for this, one of them is aggravation of the underlying disease by other health impairments associated with age. We also all know that in old age, many people become quite moody and demanding. The task of the person caring for such a patient is to treat with the greatest attention and to fulfill all wishes wisely. Try to captivate and occupy your ward as much as possible. As practice shows, people in
advanced age quite successfully master computers and the Internet. And this means that if you don’t want to listen to your grandmother’s life story for the hundredth time, try organizing her a video call session with her friend, who lives on the other side of the country.
Catering
A bedridden patient should eat variously according to the diet approved by the attending physician. The consistency of dishes is selected depending on the preservation of the chewing function. But even if the patient is hard to swallow, almost any dish can be changed to a puree consistency with a blender. Vegetables and fruits can be given in the form of mashed potatoes or finely chopped salads. Souffle and meatballs are prepared from meat. Soups should be served at lunchtime. Do not forget about drinks - juices, tea, pure water, milk and kefir. The entire daily diet should be divided into 5-6 meals. These are standard meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as snacks between them - afternoon tea and lunch. If the patient does not eat up and asks to eat "not in time" do not refuse him, but satisfy this desire. Feed the bed patient should be in a sitting or reclining position. If he can eat on his own, get a special bed stand. Use simple, stable dishes; for drinking, it is convenient to serve special drinkers or straws for cocktails.
Home bed care: price of service
In order to independently take care of a relative who is prescribed
bed rest, you will have to leave work. In such a situation, constant monitoring is important, because the diseased is essentially completely helpless and may need something at any time. Do not forget that bedridden care products and medicines are not cheap, which means that quitting a well-paid job is not profitable (and in some situations it simply is not possible). A good solution is to find a professional caregiver. The cost of this service will depend directly on the duties of the employee and the requirements for his qualifications, for Moscow the price is from 1 thousand rubles per day. Many carers advertise themselves as registered nurses. But, as practice shows, choosing such an assistant makes sense only if necessary to give injections or put droppers on the patient. To monitor the patient, fulfill his requests and household procedures, just an experienced nurse, or perhaps a lay person, who had to take care of seriously ill people earlier, is enough.