Why lift foot of bed up to lift pts in bed?

[Googlenurse]

Is the new thing? I've noticed several CNA and nurses lift the foot of the bed to the highest possible(while the head stays flat) and then lift them in bed?  

I do not understand why. That makes the majority of the patient's weight go to the center and makes it harder actually to lift them up with the turning sheet and cotton chux. Also,the feet seem to get stuck. The nurses claimed it makes the patients slide up easier,but they are not supposed to slide up anyway. We are supposed to lift them up to prevent shearing. 

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

21 hours ago, BunnyBunnyBSNRN said:

And we wonder why "nurses eat their young" is still a saying....

Did you see the dig that poster made about this being common sense? 
 

As I said, we were not taught that 20 years ago when I was in school. 

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

15 hours ago, 2B a Nurse said:

Not really a new idea but a little different than what I was familiar with. We would place the patient in Trendelenburg. This allows gravity to work with you rather than against you.

Our beds are not capable of planning in Trendelenburg position. We are just lifting the feet up to the highest possible and then lifting

[Kitiger, RN]

4 hours ago, Googlenurse said:

Our beds are not capable of planning in Trendelenburg position. We are just lifting the feet up to the highest possible and then lifting

We work with what we have. ?

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

5 hours ago, Googlenurse said:

Did you see the dig that poster made about this being common sense? 
 

As I said, we were not taught that 20 years ago when I was in school. 

You don't need to be taught in school for something be considered common sense. 

We all come from different backgrounds and experiences and my experiences prior to doing nursing as well as during nursing has configured my mind to think on ways to reduce the stress on my body/back. Someone had mentioned the idea of gravity helping with patient move up in bed and that's where my comment/idea was meant to be geared towards. But hey, every nurse has their own way and quirks of doing things. If you think lifting the foot of the bed and using gravity causes harm, then by all means avoid. I do admit, my "common sense" comment was very inconsiderate and apologize for that.

When I meant the equipment like a bedsheet should be used, what I mean is the bed has a bedsheet on it, then there is usually a chuck under the patient. Both have that somewhat slippery texture but touching each other which 1) makes it easier to slide the patient up and 2) the chuck prevents the shear to the patients body, primarily the bottom area. The perfect world would rather have us use a hoyer lift and the nursing perfect world would have the patient stand out of bed then get back in bed to reposition themselves, but of course, we live in an imperfect world.

[explorereb96, ADN, BSN]

Well   to be fair common sense cannot be taught.  You either have it or you don't.  You can teach ways to aquire common sense and critical thinking but I believe experience is the only real teacher.  It's simple physics.  I am sorry for the patient, but when you are only given 2 staff to "lift" these patients over 200 lbs.  It's either get pulled up and risking a little shear or they can't be pulled up until there is someone else available to help.  I have been bedside for 38 years and still need my back to work for me at least another 10.  

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

23 minutes ago, explorereb96 said:

Well   to be fair common sense cannot be taught.  You either have it or you don't.  You can teach ways to aquire common sense and critical thinking but I believe experience is the only real teacher.  It's simple physics.  I am sorry for the patient, but when you are only given 2 staff to "lift" these patients over 200 lbs.  It's either get pulled up and risking a little shear or they can't be pulled up until there is someone else available to help.  I have been bedside for 38 years and still need my back to work for me at least another 10.  

What is so common sense about lifting a patient by lifting the foot of the bed?

 

I see the disconnect. You guys are sliding the patient up whereas I lift them up. 

Because common sense to me, by eyeballing the patient, means the  center of gravity shifts to the center( the abdomen) making it harder to lift them off the bed and toward the head. 
 

 

[explorereb96, ADN, BSN]

you answered your own question.  IF you have the staff to "lift" a patient over 200 lbs without sliding them, more power to you.  We all aren't so lucky.  

[JKL33]

4 hours ago, explorereb96 said:

I am sorry for the patient, but when you are only given 2 staff to "lift" these patients over 200 lbs.  It's either get pulled up and risking a little shear or they can't be pulled up until there is someone else available to help. 

This. ^

I'm sorry too, it isn't ideal. But this bit about what we are supposed to do or supposed to avoid is out the window in this particular case. The resources to accomplish the pie-in-the-sky version with no shearing have been withheld. So....end of story. Just get it done in whatever way has the least likelihood of really hurting yourself or the patient.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

On 12/22/2022 at 5:22 AM, JKL33 said:

Speaking of "supposed to"--what does your job description say about your lifting requirements? Likely something like 50-75 pounds. That means 4 (yes FOUR)--or at the very least 3--staff members to lift a pt that weighs a mere 200 lbs. One or two nurses do not magically make a people-moving machine. Just no.

What kind of tools do you have available? Something more than just a regular draw sheet I hope.

My job requirement says 65 pounds I believe since that was what I was required to be able to lift after shoulder surgery.  But that's the minimum it doesn't say that is the max.  

Do job descriptions have a maximum amount that you're allowed to lift?

[JKL33]

8 minutes ago, Tweety said:

My job requirement says 65 pounds I believe since that was what I was required to be able to lift after shoulder surgery.  But that's the minimum it doesn't say that is the max.  

Do job descriptions have a maximum amount that you're allowed to lift?

My previous positions did; I only know because I checked due to similar discussions here. Under expectations it said something to the effect of being able to lift 75 lbs. 

That would most reasonably be taken to mean maximum—the whole point of including that in a job description is so that if there are problems they can show that you knew were expected to be able to lift that amount. Not 200, 300lbs. I assume the number they choose could mean a great deal to HR as far as whether a person is capable of performing the job. Also when you go to pre employment physicals that is the amount the test to see if you can handle—not 200 or 300 lbs.  The reasonable explanation would be that what they list in the job description as far as physical requirements is not to be taken as a minimum. 
 

I’ve never actually heard anyone ponder that these listed amounts might mean minimum, which would mean essentially that they expect there’s no end in sight. And if, say, the lift on a van is broken you better be ready to lift the patient up in their wheelchair to put them back in their vehicle. See what I mean?

[JKL33]

ETA: These things have consequences for workers comp too (I would assume) in the following way: Your job expects that you should be able to manually lift 75 lbs. What were you doing trying to lift 150 lbs? “We have tools for that, you didn’t use them, you didn’t follow policy, you’re out of luck…”

Theres just nothing about this that would suggest it’s to be taken as minimum. 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, JKL33 said:

My previous positions did; I only know because I checked due to similar discussions here. Under expectations it said something to the effect of being able to lift 75 lbs. 

That would most reasonably be taken to mean maximum—the whole point of including that in a job description is so that if there are problems they can show that you knew were expected to be able to lift that amount. Not 200, 300lbs. I assume the number they choose could mean a great deal to HR as far as whether a person is capable of performing the job. Also when you go to pre employment physicals that is the amount the test to see if you can handle—not 200 or 300 lbs.  The reasonable explanation would be that what they list in the job description as far as physical requirements is not to be taken as a minimum. 
 

I’ve never actually heard anyone ponder that these listed amounts might mean minimum, which would mean essentially that they expect there’s no end in sight. And if, say, the lift on a van is broken you better be ready to lift the patient up in their wheelchair to put them back in their vehicle. See what I mean?

I think we're saying the same thing.  "If you can't lift at least 75 lbs. you don't fit the job description".  So 75 is the minimum required weight required to be able to lift to be hired.  

For me it was "you have to be able to perform CPR and lift 65 lbs. to return to work.".   It didn't say "the maximum weight you are ever required to lift is 65 lbs."  

I agree that means there is no upper limit and that might not be safe.  But my upper limit as someone that's toned and lifts weight is much higher than someone petite and weaker.