How can slower hygiene routines make your job safer and faster?
When carers are overworked, keeping wellness, comfort and dignity top-of-mind during daily routines can be challenging. How can each hygiene routine turn into an opportunity for comfort, dignity and the kinds of interactions that make a positive difference to the people in our care?
As the ageing population expands, the number of frail and elderly patients and residents needing care is on the rise. This has led to carers often feeling pressured to carry out their daily hygiene routines as quickly as possible. Not only does this result in 50% more workplace injuries to carers compared with the average worker, but it can also make it harder to forge meaningful connections and improve the quality of life for the residents and patients in their care.
We cannot make more time, but we can help make better use of it. And that is what we try to do in our approach to hygiene – for a feeling beyond clean.
Safety and confidence
Bathing patients is one of the principal tasks that puts you at risk of back and shoulder injuries. Yet, with the proper equipment, you can carry out hygiene routines that are free from the risk of injury. In turn, the people in your care are more likely to relax and even look forward to the bathing experience.
Well-being and hygiene
Real-world studies have shown that, for people with mobility issues, a comforting bath can help ease muscle tension, increase blood circulation and reduce the load on joints. So, in the right care setting, with the right shower chair and bath system, your hygiene routines can be a source of comfort and well-being for residents and patients.
Efficiency and workflow
Solutions that allow a single carer to carry out an entire hygiene routine in safety, while cutting down the number of necessary transfers, gives you a little more time for making a personal connection with the people in your care. Our equipment, such as the System 2000 solution of bath lifters and bath tubs does exactly that, protecting the caregivers while they work and placing the resident at the center of care.
Read more about Hygiene and Wellness in our Clinical Evidence Summary. This clinical evidence summary focuses around both showering and bathing solutions and how to enhance resident wellbeing, improve efficiency while avoiding caregiver risks.
References:
1: United Kingdom Office for National Statistics,3rd November 2015, reference number 004835.
2: Freitag, S., Ellegast, R., and Dulon, M., 2007. Quantitative measurement of stressful trunk postures in nursing professions. Annals of Occupational Hygiene, pp. 385-395
3: Goto, Y., Hayasaka, S., Kurihara, S. and Nakamura, Y., 2018. Physical and Mental Effects of Bathing: A Randomized Intervention Study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2018, pp.1-5
