Transfering to Toilet?

[justme01]

If a resident cannot stand how do you transfer them from wheelchair to toilet? Here is the setup. I walk into the bathroom and the sink and toilet are on the left hand side, and there is a grab bar on the back wall. I know how to transfer a resident who can stand but what if they cannot?

I will tell you what doesn't work. I pushed the chair straight through the door to the back wall. I was behind the resident who was in the chair facing the grab bar and the toilet was to our left. That would be perfect if she could stand and hold onto the bar, then I would simply roll the chair back out of the way and pivot her onto the toilet. Unfortunately, I found myself behind the wheelchair of a resident who could not stand. Help!

[gtoko]

How about a hoyer lift?

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

In cases like that I would ask another aide for help. A hoyer wouldn't really help in that situation, imo.

[mattiemiranda]

If you can get someone to help you, I would do that. If no one is there you can try to transfer her on your own but be careful! If you can position the wheelchair to where the patient's knees are directly in front of you you may be able to do it. Make sure the wheelchair is locked and then have him/her put their arms around your neck. Make sure that your knee is in between their legs. Put your arms under their arms and wrap around their back. Then lift up and pivot the patient to the toilet. When you have your knee in between their knees/legs and they start to fall, your knee will be there to sort of catch them.

The patient might be too heavy to lift them by yourself and if you're having to lift and assist in getting pants undone that can be difficult! Try to get help but if that doesn't work just try what I said! That is the only way I can think to do it! Hope this helps!

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

If this person is NWB or only partial weight bearing then they're probably supposed to be a lift or at the very least, a 2-person transfer. So each person would get under one of their arms and you would all stand pivot together. In a tiny bathroom this is impossible, so what i do is park the resident perpendicular to the toilet, have one person stand in front of them and pick them up under the arms, and the other person rolls the chair away and pulls their pants down and then the one holding them can pivot. Use a gait belt so you're not pulling up their whole body weight by their armpits. If even this can't be done because the resident is just too heavy and floppy, then you need to bring a commode out to their room, where there is more space, and transfer them the right way.

What I've done when no one's around to help me is to tilt the wheelchair back all the way and shimmy the person's pants off, undo the sides of the brief, then tilt them forward again before I transfer them myself. Then I usually have to pull the call bell for help getting them off the toilet because it's too hard to get them wiped and pull their pants up AND get them in the chair, although I've gotten kinda creative with that a few times in a pinch.

PT would have a cow if they read this.

[toninurse]

Why don't you let the patient use a shower chair? It's on rollers and slides right over the toilet.

[ijh6890]

I think you should use the bedside commode since the bathroom is small, and ask for another cna to help.

[CNA2day]

use a standup lift.

I would refuse to do it any other way. Sounds like a back injury waiting to happen to me!