Friday, January 13, 2012

I made your bed, now you can lie in it

Making the bed of an elderly person can be a chore - especially if they suffer from overnight incontenence. Here's a trick I implemented which worked very well.

Strip the bed down to the mattress. Take two extra large disposable underpads, and tape them to the mattress so that they are centered under where the person's bottom will rest. (Sounds like a "duh", but all of my clients lie in their beds very differently!) Make sure you secure all sides to avoid bunching. Next, put on the mattress pad. On this, also, place two underpads, taped securely. Cover this with a fitted sheet with one extra large underpad taped to it. On top of this, place a second fitted sheet, protected in the same manner. Then make the bed. If the incontenent person suffers a breakthrough in the night, simply pull off the top fitted sheet, exposing the clean one. If you experience 2-3 changes a night, just increase the layers.

Rubber sheets are a good thing to use, also. I do not recommend covering the entire mattress with plastic, as this promotes unhealthy sweating and may contribute to skin breakdown.

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