Pulling a Client up in Bed (Nursing)

00:04 Now let's talk about pulling a client up in bed. This is really useful to help make sure a patient's comfortable or maybe their head to bed is at the highest part of the bed so they can breathe more comfortably so before you get started make sure you get help here you do not want to pull a client up in bed obviously by yourself so make sure you request assistance. Now this is important because we want to position the bed at the proper working height now remember you're going to have a partner here so it's maybe if it's someone shorter like me and someone much taller, we have to have an agreeable height in a safe working height that both of us can work from so make sure you look at that. Now with able you want to put a slide sheet or a draw sheet underneath a patient, this is going to be much more helpful to move the patient up in bed, it's also going to limit friction which can really tear down their skin.

00:57 Now if able use the bed itself to help you move up the client so if you think about if you maybe if this is the head of the bed and you tilt the patient down a little bit this will definitely help move the patient up so don't be afraid to use your bed settings to help you out a little bit. Now at this point, grasp the side of the sheet or the draw sheet at the client's upper back and hips so we grasp the sheet make sure you're not at the edge of the sheet make sure you grasp it really close to the patient's body, this is going to be much easier to help move the patient up in bed. Now this is really important anytime we move a patient make sure you put one foot towards the area that you're going to go such as one foot pointing towards the head of the bed because we're going to be going this way so that's really important that way you stay safe and you're using more of your legs and you're not going to be tipping over this way. Now on the count of three, shift your weight to the front leg which is where we're going to be going and pull the sheet towards the head of the bed, okay so before we move this point counting to three this whole count thinks really important because what if your partner doesn't know if we're moving on three, is it after three so make sure you communicate here to make sure you guys are on the same page before you move the patient. So now that the patient's comfortable we can reposition the bed to the lowest position for safety, don't forget since we're leaving the bed remember to put those side rails up, now we can perform hand hygiene and document the procedure.

02:42 Hi, welcome to pulling a patient up in bed so this is going to be particularly helpful when maybe your patient's been weak or they've just had surgery or they're not able to do so for themselves so sometimes your patients can use their legs help push them up higher up in the bed but if they're not able to do so we as staff can assist so we're going to show you how to pull a client up in bed. So before we start, you definitely are going to have to have more than one person right? because you need one on one side and a person on the other side so make sure you get help, now before we get too far you want to make sure the bed is up in a great working height for both you and your partner, now here's the tricky part as you can see me and Dean are definitely different in heights right? so make sure it's going to be something comfortable for me as a shorter staff member and also Dean. So unfortunately my taller partner here will probably have to squat a little bit more when he moves and we'll talk about that as well so get on an agreeable comfortable working height then because me and Dean are both on each side of the bed we can put the side rail down and don't forget that anytime you put down a side rail someone should be on the other side of that side rail so just make sure no side rail means staff should be there, okay so now we're going to put these down.

04:04 Okay, thank you Dean, so now when we pull a patient up in bed, one thing I want you to keep in mind is body mechanics so I'm going to face dean we're also going to have to make sure we communicate about when we want to move the patient up in bed so we've got to decide this before we decide when we're going to move the patient. Okay, so Dean how about we count on one, two and on three we move the patient does that sound good sounds great? Okay perfect! so we've made a plan before we move the patient so now one thing I want you to notice is our body mechanics, we're in the trunk of the patient which is the heaviest part, the other thing is we're facing each other one thing to note is I'm facing this way but my right leg in the direction we're going is going to. be pointed this way so what I mean by that is I'm here, my legs pointed towards the top of the bed and we're going to be moving together like this so that's really important that's why communication is key before you put move a patient up in the bed also if we're not careful and we don't communicate we can sometimes shear the patient's skin if you don't communicate so make sure you make a plan before you do so. Okay, so now that we're ready me and dean has made a plan we're going to position our body and it's always recommended that if the patient's a little bit heavier or any time you're going to move make sure you are not straight up and use a little bit of bend in your knees and then move together and use your legs, so our patient has a draw sheet underneath there, I'm going to fold this back so you can see this a little bit. This is really helpful, it's a white sheet underneath the patient now typically when we make a bed we place that here for this specific reason or to move the patient so when we use the draw sheet on a patient and when you move a patient up in bed you really don't want to grab the outer portion of portion of the draw sheet now the reason why if you watch, it's much more effort to pull from here than is to choke up on the draw sheet and get it really close to the trunk of the patient where the heaviest part is and move that way. Now we've made a plan but we're going to reconfirm that plan before we move the patient. Okay, so dean when you're ready on three we'll say one two and then on three we'll move the patients that sound good, sounds great okay great, so now we're going to take our draw sheet and as you notice, you can either tuck in whatever works well for you but get a hold of that draw sheet closest to the trunk of the patient so now I've got that and notice me and Dean's body mechanics, we're facing each other but it's really important that you take your foot the way that the lead foot and go to point it towards the top of the bed because that's where we're going so when I'm here I'm going to have my foot pointing this way and we're going this way with the patient, that way it gives me the maximum stability. Okay, so now I'm going to grab my draw sheet and on three me and Dean are going to move the patient ready? One, two, three.

07:11 Thank you and then we're going to make sure the patient's linens are where they need to be, the patient's in a comfortable position then we're going to make sure the bed is in the lowest height, the side rails are back up and perform our hand hygiene before we leave the room.