Tips on Providing Bedside Care for a Sick Person Recuperating From Home
When someone you love is hospitalized, it means he or she will require bedside care. Having a patient in hospital drains you physically, emotionally and financially. You have to mobilize every kind of assistance you can get in order to ensure that your patient is well catered for. Every so often, you need to spend time with the sick person in order to monitor the treatment and recovery process. Such visits to the hospital also assist in monitoring the quality of care being offered. While hospitals offer basic amenities in addition to treatment, a sick person feels relieved when family members, friends and workmates pay him a visit. When you are the caregiver, you will need some help in preparing your home for them. Here are 6 things to consider while finding a comfortable bed and products to use:
1. Ensure a suitable bed is used. Hospital beds are designed in such a way that they can be adjusted as per the needs of a patient. There are mechanisms for raising and lowering head or footrests for patient’s comfort. While in hospital, all the needs of a patient is dealt by a team of dedicated nurses and doctors. The challenge arises when you have to provide bedside care to someone recuperating from home.
2. Improvise if need be. As a caregiver, you should understand that it is normal for a patient who is recuperating to adamantly refuse to use a hospital bed. Most patients consider this as an act of giving in to the fight against the condition they are suffering from. However, you should know that hospital beds are the best when it comes to positioning a sick person, especially one suffering from respiratory illness and similar ailments. Should you be faced with such a challenge, you need to improvise and consider using cushions to help them up and down.
3. Custom made beds. If your loved one has totally refused to make use of a hospital bed, then you can have a customized bed made. Contact your local furniture dealer and give them the specifications for the kind of bed you require.
4. A sick person needs all the comfort he can get. This calls for the person in charge of taking care to ensure that the bottom sheets are well spread and there are no wrinkles. Occasionally, remove any debris and flatten wrinkles particularly when the patient goes for a short call or takes a stroll outside. Such discomfort can be very irritating.
5. Use side rails. If you are using a hospital bed, it comes with side rails whose function is to protect the sick person from taking a fall while asleep. Make sure the rails are in place once the patient falls asleep and you are going to leave the room for a while. This should be done all the time, not necessarily at night. If you are using an improvised bed, you need to buy these rails. They are affordable and easy to install.
6. Bedside supplies and products. Taking care of a recovering patient from home is no easy task. It is like transforming your home into a hospital. At the patient’s bedside you need to have a stock of bed sheets, towel, tissue paper, adult diapers, bathing soap and extra clothes among other personal items. Patients can be very demanding, so it is always good to be prepared for any eventuality.
Home based patient care has its main advantage being that it fosters a quicker recovery since the sick person is in familiar surroundings. With the right kind of bedside care, it is only a matter of time before your loved one gets well again.