Thread on giving baths got me thinking, and was wondering if nurses still make beds with "hospital" corners anymore. Also is learning the three basic types of beds part of formal nursing education anymore?
I'll leave aside the mandate that pillow slip opening must face away from the door for now. *LOL*
Merely require information, as am often gobsmacked at what passes for a bed these days in hospital, and often hear "I don't have time for that".
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
We use cloth draw sheets all the time.
They're practical! Whenever I see a bed with just a fitted bottom sheet and a Chux they get bunchy in 2 minutes. A couple of other immediate benefits of bedmaking class were folding the sheet in half to find the centerpoint and -- folding a pillow in half instead of tucking under chin! I don't know why the closed end faced the door other than a more aesthetic appearance, though.
My instructor for the basics was a retired Navy nurse, so she almost had the demeanor of a drill sargeant - but she stopped just short of insisting a dime bounce off our handiwork. :)
Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.
Bottom sheet is fitted, no point in doing hospital corners on the top sheet & blanket because most of my patients have SCDs. I do my best to make it neat, though.
Just graduated last year and we not only learned all 3, we were state tested on them. NY. And yes, when I have to make a bed it's with corners and all, even at home :)
But, I am picky about my beds. We have fitted sheets, thank goodness. But my draw sheets are actually a regular sheet and it HAS to be folded in half and put on the bed long-ways, so that it basically covers the entire bed. None of this tiny draw sheet with three feet of sheet under the patient's butt which ends up under their shoulders after two boosts! I also put a dri-flo pad with powder under every patient. Two or three for the messy ones! Minimizes entire linen changes on unstable patients, it's much quicker to just change the pad. I usually don't put anything on top of them, sometimes a sheet, and if they are cold I get a blanket from the warmer :) Wish I had one of those at home!!!
I'm about to graduate in May, and they taught us at the beginning of the program the "correct" way to make a bed. Do I see it used in the hospital by nurses, or use it myself as a tech? Not really. Most RNs I work with are concerned with more important things. Obviously no creases will always be important, but as for having mitered corners and everything else, I think it's just extra. It's not hard to make a bed look presentable.
Mitered corners help to anchor the sheets. The tightness of the sheets helps to prevent decubiti - even a small crease can be annoying.
When I taught bedmaking, I would ask the students to take a wadded face cloth ( wash cloth, whatever) and place it under their hip, and then see how lonf they could lay on top of this lump. Many had a better appreciation for the need of a well-made bed.
It isn't all asthetics, you know. Except the open end of the pillow case being away from the door!
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
We use cloth draw sheets all the time.