is it wrong to sit on a patients bed?

[LPNweezy]

My nursing instructor told me once to never ever sit on a patients bed. I work at a LTC facility and i see some nurses sitting on the side of the bed with alert and oriented patients when they are counseling them or trying to cheer them up. What do you think about this practice? please keep in mind that this is not a hospital setting. thanks :)

[tewdles, RN]

Yup...I have sat on beds, commodes, wheelchairs, and even regular furniture. I sometimes kneel on the floor, it that is what it takes to get to eye level with my patient...or to reach his/her hand...or to give them a hug.

If the bed is the best option I ask permission to sit next to them and I prep the spot (never blindly sit in ANY place in a patient home). I carry a couple of pads in my bag...one to set my gear on and one to sit my butt on (if needed).

When I was in acute care I routinely sat inside the "crib" with distressed toddlers or had need to get on the bed with laboring mothers with a distressed fetus.

[purse]

I always do it, sometimes I even lay down:clown:

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

When I was a pt, I appreciated the docs and nurses who would pull up a chair and talk to me. I didn't like anyone sitting on my bed, however. I know that they were trying to be friendly and establish a bond of sorts, but I thought it was kinda gross. I had been sweating on those sheets, and now the doc is going to walk out of my room with a gross lab coat on. Ew. Cross contamination was the first thing I thought of.

As a nurse, I never sit on my pt's bed. What if they sneezed and used the sheets to wipe their hands? Who knows what is on the sheets? I would rather not take the risk of contaminating my scrubs and then passing yuck onto another pt.

And to address the poster who asked, "Is grosser a word"? That made me laugh! My hubby said that one day when we had come in from fishing on the boat one evening and looked at my hands-we had been using cut bait and it gets N to the A to the STY by the end of the day. He said, "I think your hands are grosser than mine!" I told him that his comment was "stupider than my grosser hands"! The conversation spiraled into a comedy of bad grammar. How funny!

[ktwlpn, LPN]

In LTC which the OP is asking about it's considered an infection control issue.We have always been told to refrain from doing it-especially if the department of health is in the building. We have plenty of light plastic chairs we can move around to where we need them.

I'm just as guilty as many of you-if a resident needs a shoulder to cry on or a demented resident needs to be "jollied" into eating or accepting meds I'll sit beside them. But I have had residents tell my that they don't like it-many don't like the linens pulled tightly over their feet as happens when someone sits on the bed. I have also discovered puddles of urine on those plastic chairs. First rule in LTC-don't touch or sit on anything without looking!

[Chin up]

I don't sit on beds for two reasons, one I think it s gross. I don't even like to sit in chairs, residents have sat in. Many are not clean, are incontinent or into things I don't want ti know about. For my sake, no. Two, it is rude, unless invited to do so. I work LTC and this is their home. Why would they want me to sit on their bed, not knowing where I have been or previously sat. What right do I have in sitting on the bed where they sleep with all the germs and bacteria I have been exposed too. I would not want you sitting on my bed, especially in your scrubs, so I won't do it to them. Of course there are exceptions to everything, but no, not as a rule. Peace!

[Chin up]

One of our surgeons sits on the commode- lid open and all, then steals a bite of food from their tray! Saw it last week, ewww

Why, you should not sit on a bed. This is sooo gross, I feel badly for the person whose bed, he does sit on.

[rnmi2004]

Most of our rooms have chairs, so I sit on them next to the bed. If the chairs have "walked off" or if they're full of stuff, I have sat on the bed before. There are just some times when your interaction with the patient isn't the same if you're towering over them.

My clinical instructors told me not to, but they also told me not to throw dirty linens on the floor when changing the bed.

[kayern]

It depends on the circumstances. I am a firm believer that when speaking to a patient, being at their eye level makes it more personal and intimate. Standing at a patient's bedside, looking down at them and the patient looking up, in my opinion, doesn't make for a therapeutic environment. Looking down at them puts you in a position of authority (which I know you're all saying.....well yes) but just how much therapeutic communication is going on. Think about it!

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I worked at one facility where the aids would put towels on the chairs where residents and staff would sit. This was an ALF. The director told the aids not to put towels down because if was offensive and if the chairs weren't clean enough for the staff then they weren't clean enough for the residents. I guess it all depends.

[Chin up]

Most of our rooms have chairs, so I sit on them next to the bed. If the chairs have "walked off" or if they're full of stuff, I have sat on the bed before. There are just some times when your interaction with the patient isn't the same if you're towering over them.

My clinical instructors told me not to, but they also told me not to throw dirty linens on the floor when changing the bed.

I still don't throw linen on the floor, never have. No, I am not a goody two shoes, I am as shady as everyone else, but in most areas, I kept up what I learned in school. Peace!

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

I have on occasion, but not while the pt is IN it....if they are up in the recliner, and I am in there and have a chance to sit and chat with them, I may sit on the side of the bed. Usually the sheets are clean, too, because when the patient gets up in the chair is when I do my linen change.

As far as the whole scabies thing.....whoever said they got them from sitting on the bed is lying. Sorry. That means that they think that if they did NOT sit on the bed, they wouldn't have, which I just do not believe. Scabies are HORRIBLY contagious, so if you have a patient that has them, chances are, you're going to get them too, just by being around them/in their room, etc. Especially if you need to assist them with transfers. This is also why scabies usually ends up as a huge outbreak in facilities, it is SO difficult to keep contained.

[Chin up]

I worked at one facility where the aids would put towels on the chairs where residents and staff would sit. This was an ALF. The director told the aids not to put towels down because if was offensive and if the chairs weren't clean enough for the staff then they weren't clean enough for the residents. I guess it all depends.

Every CNA I know, does this. More so than me. I am not as anal about it, but they are! Lol! Peace!