toileting a resident

nguyency77, CNA · Feb 18, 2012

There should be guard rails in the bathroom. If the resident can stand a little bit, have them grab the bar and stand up while you clean them really quickly. I keep the wheelchair close, but make sure the situation is safe. you don't want the resident to be hurt.

jose2010 · Feb 18, 2012

In one of the residents restrooms they had a sign saying that the guard rails were broken and they were for the hole 5 days we were there. So i had to had him move up a bit on the toilet so i could clean him. Thena gain a couple of residents restrooms had that sign.

Thanks for the advise nguyency77. Hopefully all the other LTC's their guard rails aren;t broken

loriangel14, RN · Feb 18, 2012

Use grab bars if they have them or don't toilet the patient alone.If they can't stand well enough or long enough and you don't get help you are asking for trouble.A basic part of keeping the client/resident/patient safe is knowing when to ask for help.

jose2010 · Feb 18, 2012

My goal is to keep the resident safe. And i know im going to have to ask for help since im not that strong to left by myself. But of course my instructor told me im going to have to learn to do this on my own since i might not be able to get someone to help me all the time.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Feb 18, 2012

Well yeah, you'll have to toilet people alone eventually, but no one should be expected to toilet a resident by themselves when the grab bar is broken! That's ridiculous.

Rick68fl · Feb 18, 2012

Bring in a walker for the resident to hold on to while cleaning her up.

yousoldtheworld · Feb 18, 2012

Depending on the setup of the bathroom, another option could be having the resident hold onto the handles of their locked wheelchair or even a sink.

h_kitty, CNA · Feb 19, 2012

If the grab bars weren't broken, I would use those.

If I knew they were stable enough, I'd use their wheelchair and lock in next to them and have them grand the rails and stand.......but if they can't stand on their own, I would still ask for help with that kind of situation. If I have to transfer someone who "can't" stand on their own,( which I'm assuming you meant she can't weight bear) and is a X2 assist, wipe them, pull their briefs and pants up, all why supporting their weight on me, I wouldn't. I'd call for my partner or something because a fall (even a guided one) is a huge thing and a lot more work for the nurses with paper work=/...with like incident reports and what not. and especially huge if it's by a student. so if you have any doubt, don't transfer alone!!! Your teacher said that you have to learn this way because you might not have help all the time, which is true, but risking it ...ehhhh... . I help my partners all the time whenever they ask me for help with toileting a patient...=]

jose2010 · Feb 19, 2012

Thank u all for the advise. I do know i wil have to toilet people on my own, and i will ask for help when its a 2 person lift. I never realy though about using their wheelchair as a support when trying to clean them.

student forever · Feb 19, 2012

Grab bar, walker or wheelchair, or another person. If these are not possible, then do not put the person on the toliet. Briefs are for this type of situation.

nguyency77, CNA · Feb 19, 2012

It's totally normal to be scared of toileting a resident. I used to be so scared of it because I'm a girl and I'm small in terms of physical size. On top of that, I have really bad knees that tend to slip out of place if I bear too much weight too quickly, so I wear a brace under my scrubs when I work.

You just figure these things out as you go. When you get your first job, you'll realize that you can't always do things the way you learned it in school. It's important to be creative. In school, I learned the Bethany lifting method, but I realize that sometimes having the bed low is not beneficial.

For example, it doesn't make sense to transfer a 250-lb, 6'2" man with the bed all the way down. I would have to strain my knees and not get anywhere. I learned that for certain tall people that are dead-weight, it's easier to just raise the bed so that the person is almost standing when you go to transfer them. :)

For state tests, do skills exactly as you learned them in school.