Serious illness of one of the family members or deterioration of health due to respectable age is a serious test for all relatives. In our country, bed patients are prescribed home, provided there is no need for inpatient treatment. For the first time having got into a similar situation, the patient's close ones are lost and do not know how to organize life and establish timely fulfillment of medical prescriptions. Meanwhile, taking care of lying patients at home is a daily job, requiring the assimilation of a number of rules, provided that it is performed by a layman.
Preparation of premises
Regardless of housing conditions, a bed room patient should be allocated a separate room. If improvement in the state in the near future is not expected, it makes sense to immediately purchase a special bed. Such furniture is regulated by the height of the overall and separate legs / headboards. Arrange the bed so that you can approach it from two sides. Near the bed it is convenient to put a bedside table or table. Here, the nursing accessories will be kept, and on top of it, in the reach of the recumbent, water and the things necessary to it. The room in which there is a bed patient, it is better not to force more furniture. Be sure to monitor the air temperature and the level of illumination. If possible, use devices that clean and moisturize the air.
Method of communication
If the ill person 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 in the bedside room and regularly charge it. Choose simple models with a large enough screen and large font, as well as convenient buttons. The classic option is to use a bell or a door bell that runs on batteries. If care of bed patients at home is carried out on the territory of a large apartment or house, the rational decision is to purchase a walkie-talkie or a baby monitor. These funds work constantly and completely free of charge.
General recommendations
In the room where the patient is, daily do wet cleaning, and once in 10 days - disinfection. If air conditioning or other air-purifying equipment is not installed in the room, open the ventilation pane or windows for ventilation. Regularity depends on the temperature of the air outside the window and the wishes of the patient. Try to organize the leisure activities as much as possible. If a person is conscious, invite him to watch TV or listen to audiobooks. If there are no problems with the functioning of the upper limbs, be sure to select the personal computer for the sick person and bring new books. No miracle of technology will replace live communication - ask who the patient would like to invite to visit and try to fulfill his wishes.
Care of bed patients in the home: funds
One of the biggest difficulties in caring for relatives, bedridden, is the organization of the 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 the natural desires, it is useful to make the bed an oilcloth under the sheet. In this case it is convenient to use disposable absorbent diapers and diapers. Acquire modern electronic devices - a tonometer and a thermometer. It is also convenient to spread out in the patient's personal nightstand its cosmetics and medications. Care of bed patients at home should be carried out on schedule. If you need to take several medications daily, write a timetable for their delivery and follow it clearly. Be sure to carefully read the annotations to pharmacological products, some funds must be given before meals, and others - only after.
Hygienic procedures
The routine of the sick person should be as close to normal as possible. Be sure to keep the morning and evening wash. Well, if a person is able to wash himself and brush his teeth. If this is not possible, help him in this. It is necessary to wash the whole body every day. To do this, add a little vodka or cologne to warm water and wipe the skin with a moistened swab in this liquid. Periodically use after shower the baby cream or special ointments. Daily it is necessary to clean the nose and ears, use for this purpose wadded flagella, moistened in oil or glycerin. As the regrowth cut nails, hair is also desirable to cut short, it will facilitate the care of them. The head needs to be washed as it gets dirty. If the average hair length is still preserved, comb them daily, make a comfortable hairstyle - a scythe or a pair of loose tails.
How to avoid bedsores
Bedsores appear in places where the blood supply to the skin is disturbed. Aggravating factors - constant contact with a rubbing cloth, dry skin or sweat accumulation. The main prevention of this unpleasant phenomenon is daily hygienic care in combination with massage and exercise therapy according to the prescribing doctor's instructions. When immobilized, the body of the diseased person must be regularly turned over, allowing him to be in different poses. For example, if there was a stroke, caring for a bed patient necessarily includes a daily examination of the body. Most bedsores appear in the groin, underarms and other folds of the skin. Often they are found on their feet. All listed places need to pay special attention - in a timely manner to remove sweat and lubricate the cream, if the skin dries - this is a regular care for lying patients. Bedsores can be treated with special ointments and creams. If skin lesions are already noticeable, you should purchase special pads for these areas. Without this accessory effectively heal damage will not work. There are many national recipes against decubitus. Keep in mind - you can apply them only after consulting a 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 sick person, his state of health and capabilities. Allocate time for hygiene, meals, medical treatment and rest. If the patient controls the upper limbs and is awake most of the day, still agree with him about limiting watching TV and reading. Remember: during illness even a pleasant fatigue will not be of use. Most often, with the greatest number of difficulties, care of lying elderly patients is associated. There are two reasons for this, one of them is the aggravation of the underlying disease by other health impairments related to age. Also, we all know that in old age many people become quite capricious and demanding. The task of the person caring for such a patient is to treat with the greatest attention and to reasonably fulfill all wishes. Try to maximally engage and take care of your ward. As practice shows, people in venerable age quite successfully master computers and the Internet. And this means that if you do not want to hear the life story of your grandmother for the umpteenth time, try to organize a video communication session with her friend living on the other side of the country.
Catering services
The patient should eat a variety of 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 difficult to swallow, almost any dish can be changed to a consistency of puree with a blender. Vegetables and fruits can be given in the form of mashed potatoes or finely chopped salads. Soufflé and cutlets are prepared from meat. For lunch, you should always serve soups. Do not forget about the drinks - juices, tea, clear water, milk and yogurt. The entire daily diet should be divided into 5-6 meals. This is a standard meal: 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 patient lying in a posture sitting or reclining. If he can eat on his own, buy a special bed table-stand. Use a simple stable dish, for drinking it is convenient to serve special drinkers or rolls for cocktails.
Care of bed patients at home: the price of the service
In order to independently take care of a relative who is assigned a bed rest, you will have to leave work. In this situation, constant monitoring is important, because the sick person is essentially helpless and may need something at any time. Do not forget that bed-linen care products and medicines are not cheap, which means that it is unprofitable to give up a high-paying job (and in some situations it is simply not possible). A good solution is to find a professional nurse. The cost of this service will depend directly on the duties of the employee and the requirements for his qualification, for Moscow the price is from 1,000 rubles per day. Many carers advertise themselves as registered nurses. But, as practice shows, choosing such an assistant makes sense only if you need to do injections or put a dropper to the patient. To monitor the patient, to fulfill his requests and household procedures, it is enough simply for an experienced nurse, and perhaps even a layman, who previously had to take care of seriously ill people.