A man loses 2/3 of his weight and needs necessary surgery to remove excess skin. This is the story of one of our Hotel patients.
Dressing this patient is a challenge. Even with a loss of half of his/her previous body weight, it's a challenge. Said patient needed a custom one of these to get up in a wheelchair (not to mention a bariatric chair). It was a challenge for staff to get it on him/her, but they figured it out.
Caring for bariatric patients is a necessary evil. Please be careful out there and use every piece of equipment and tool you have that is appropriate.
Your patient and the rest of the staff (and your back) will appreciate it.
More later...
Showing posts with label bariatric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bariatric. Show all posts
Monday, June 15, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Still going...
I had the colonoscopy patient again today. I had to try to sell the GoLytely gallon again, and I fell short of my quota (only 3/4 of a gallon went down). I did have plenty of help from the other nurses on the unit to get Mr. Colo turned and cleaned up each time.
Did I mention that Mr. Colo is big? Not just big, really big. His bariatric bed takes up most of the room. Imagine your favorite football linebacker in bed and you'll have a pretty good idea of his size. Mr. C. has very large legs and he cannot help us turn. As a result, he has the usual pressure sores: on the sacrum and legs. Surprisingly, since we're doing the prep, he's turned a lot. We have to get him clean, and we have to turn him to do it.
Mr. Colo finally got his liquid lunch after I scoured the unit looking for broth and juice. I only found broth, so we got out one of his clear sodas until it arrived. Thankfully, our dietary staff did not include red gelatin on this tray. I'm just hoping he got enough GoLytely that he's cleaned out for the procedure. If not, he gets to do it again next week.
Besides Mr. Colo, I got one of my other patients up in the wheelchair and I got the med wagon on my favorite end. Most of the people on that end are pretty mellow, but they were getting antsy today. It must have had something to do with their special monthly luncheon or something. The volunteers served it early, so they were wigging out when I wasn't down to there rooms by the stroke of 12. Eventually, they calmed down.
Happily, I got the last round of meds passed and I didn't hear a peep out of any of them. There weren't too many pills to deliver and everyone was in a good mood.
One more day...hopefully, Mr. Colo's prep is done by the time I get there tomorrow. More later. The weekend's just a day away!
Did I mention that Mr. Colo is big? Not just big, really big. His bariatric bed takes up most of the room. Imagine your favorite football linebacker in bed and you'll have a pretty good idea of his size. Mr. C. has very large legs and he cannot help us turn. As a result, he has the usual pressure sores: on the sacrum and legs. Surprisingly, since we're doing the prep, he's turned a lot. We have to get him clean, and we have to turn him to do it.
Mr. Colo finally got his liquid lunch after I scoured the unit looking for broth and juice. I only found broth, so we got out one of his clear sodas until it arrived. Thankfully, our dietary staff did not include red gelatin on this tray. I'm just hoping he got enough GoLytely that he's cleaned out for the procedure. If not, he gets to do it again next week.
Besides Mr. Colo, I got one of my other patients up in the wheelchair and I got the med wagon on my favorite end. Most of the people on that end are pretty mellow, but they were getting antsy today. It must have had something to do with their special monthly luncheon or something. The volunteers served it early, so they were wigging out when I wasn't down to there rooms by the stroke of 12. Eventually, they calmed down.
Happily, I got the last round of meds passed and I didn't hear a peep out of any of them. There weren't too many pills to deliver and everyone was in a good mood.
One more day...hopefully, Mr. Colo's prep is done by the time I get there tomorrow. More later. The weekend's just a day away!
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