[JGJBoyz]

our hospital has just purchased the Hill-rom TotalCare Sport beds for our 5 critical care units.
we have been using these beds on selected patients (with an md order) for a while, but now that we will have them with all of our patients we looking at establishing a protocol for use of the percussion and vibration modules, since not all beds will have the capability of rotating, percussing and vibrating with the modules being moved from one bed to another.
does anybody already use these beds?
do you have a protocol for how long a patient should be vibrated/percussed/rotated?
which patients should and shouldn't be vibrated/percussed/rotated?
we really would like some input on this if anybody is already doing this! why reinvent the wheel!!!
thanks,
jgjboyz

[Annie, new RN]

We use Effica beds, very similar to what you are talking about, in our SICU. They are able to continually rotate, percuss/vibrate at differents speeds and set times, can weigh the pt, inflate the bed, and lots more things that I haven't tried yet. It costs our pts $2500/day just to have one of these beds so not everyone gets them, just the really sick ones.

[baseline]

We use the Total Care sport in our critical care units, and we are in the process of redesigning our policy. I will be happy to share what we have. I will PM you. The CRLT and PV modules really do help with prevention of pneumonia. And we have finally convinced the staff that CRTL does NOT prevent pressure. Overall we are quite pleased.

[cnrn]

We use those beds in our 12 bed Neuro ICU. I have found that they absolutely help with our pts. resp. status. We set them to rotate continually and we percuss and or vibrate the pts. every 2 hrs around the clock.
Personally, it seems from my experience that whether it is hospital acquired pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, or just prophylaxis that our pts. recover much quicker.

[sunshine321]

I found your discussion interesting. I am a senior nursing student and along with several of my classmates are looking for research on hospital acquired pneumonia and continuous lateral rotaion as a prevention. Do any of you know of any research on this, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thank you

[kc ccurn]

We've also used the Effica's but now are using the Total Care sport. We don't usually percuss/vibrate unless pulmonary order for it. We do rotate. I'd be interested in policies as well! Love the beds! Except that I don't think the side rails are "tall" enough, they're pretty easy for pt's to hike a leg over and out the side.