By John Schofield

When any member of our family falls sick and needs time to recuperate because of a sustained severe injury, then it is time to hire a caregiver. We need this person because there should be someone who is trained to handle sensitive situations when sick individual needs to be moved and handled. Moving and handling people is what they do best and although we want to take care of our sick loved ones ourselves we cannot risk harming them because we are not quite knowledgeable and skilled to handle the patient’s present condition. Especially elderly people who need permanent care giving, the frail bodies of these people need to be handled with utmost care. Fractures may result as a consequence of mishandling an old person; an injured and recuperating person that came from accident treatment can become even more aggravated because of mishandling.

They Need Special Care

When people are too sick to move or cannot even move their bodies, they must always be assisted. They must be assisted by caregivers when they need to go to the bathroom or change their clothes. When taking their baths somebody must help them. During the time they are hungry someone must be there to feed them. When a very sick or old person wants to sit on a wheelchair, that can be very hazardous someone must help him to sit. Wheelchairs are very unstable especially when their wheels are not properly locked. They are one of the causes of many home accidents because the sick or elderly person literally will have hard time using the wheelchair alone.

In most countries, moving and handling people is handled by caregivers or call-in nurses at the house of the patient. Unless any member of the family is trained to do the job in caring for the sick, he will be allowed to oversee the patient’s well being. However, it cannot be avoided that people need to do something to earn a living so the task of providing special care is tasked on caregivers.

The Caregiver’s Way

You, as the family member, however must learn the basic procedure in handling and moving the sick person. You need this especially if the caregiver is not always present. Here are some tips to get you by:

— Always remember that the sick or old person’s body is fragile and can be prone to bone fractures so avoid twisting movements of their bodies when helping them to move.

— Your feet must be properly wide apart to support your upper body that is loaded with the weight of the person you are trying to help. Just check on the distance of your shoulder and your feet must have the same distance from each other.

— If the patient is conscious and can understand you, ask him to place his hands on your shoulder when you try to sit him on the bed. Give the person an embrace position and lean back and use your legs to pull up his body.

— The wheelchair must be secured of its wheels when sitting the person on it. The patient must always start from sitting position. You have to go in front of him and put your arms under his armpit while telling him to hold on to the wheelchairs’ arm rest for support. Do the same thing when moving back the person to his bed. Always watch out for the person’s neck also.

— Bathing and cleaning the patient’s body is one regular task that is done by caregivers but you can also do this yourself. By turning the sick person’s body slowly from side to side, you can run a wet towel all over his body.

— The changing of clothes is also a regular task of the caregiver. You too can do it by simply imagining changing the clothes of a baby. However, the body of an adult is much heavier so you need to have a gentle turning motion and supporting the neck of the patient when taking off the clothes.

Being with a sick person requires your careful and sensitive attention because you must know the signs and manifestations of an impending peril to the person’s condition. In this manner, if the patient needs crucial care, you definitely need the caregiver’s attention because they are also trained to spot on manifestations of looming aggravated health condition such as heart attack, convulsions and worst, the dying condition of the person.

About the Author:

Moving and handling trainingMental Capacity Act

Source:

isnare.com

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