Cleaning the sick room makes everyone feel better.
Nothing is more depressing than shuffling through a maze of medical equipment, old magazines, half-eaten food, dead flowers and other detritus that seems to pile up in the sick room. Solving this problem yields big rewards as a clean room improves the patient's spirits and makes life easier for the caregiver. Getting control of the mess in the sick room makes dealing with illness more manageable for everyone.
Instructions
1. Protect yourself and the patient by wearing gloves and an apron. If the patient has a depressed immune system, consider wearing a face mask. If there is the possibility that there are old needles lying about the room, remove those first. Remove anything containing bodily secretions. If there are contaminated medical devices, such as a suction apparatus or a nebulizer, remove these from the room so that they can be properly cleaned and sterilized.
2. Place all trash in the trash basket. Many bedridden patients end up surrounded by trash. Plastic wrappings for medical products, old food, dated newspapers and the like accumulate at the bedside with alarming speed. Get rid of this trash at least twice a day to prevent the build-up from getting too overwhelming.
3. Remove clutter from the room. This is particularly important if the patient is a child because visitors often bring toys and other gifts that accumulate in the sick room. Bring such items out at particular intervals so they will retain their novelty value. Keep a gentle tone with elderly patients, who often resist removal of clutter. Assure them that their treasures are not going away for good. Exercise discretion in removing clutter because some items may have important emotional value.
4. Put clean linens on the bed. Relocate the patient to a chair, if possible, to facilitate stripping the bed and remaking it. If the patient is too ill to move from the bed, roll the patient to the right side of the bed so the bottom sheet can be released from under the mattress and moved as far to the right as possible. Roll the patient back to the left side (over the sheets), and remove the bottom sheet altogether. Make sure the patient is covered at all times and that this process does not offend his modesty. Remove the top sheet and replace with a clean sheet. Bring in a new blanket and remove the old one.
5. Scrub the surface of any bedside tables, bed frames and other nonporous surfaces with hot water and disinfectant. Dust the wooden furniture in the room. Take care with liquids that may have spilled on the furniture. Scrub the floor with hot water and disinfectant. If the floor is carpeted, vacuum quickly because vacuum cleaner noises are annoying.
6. Empty the trash. Clean the trash basket with disinfectant. Line the trash basket with a new bag.
7. Arrange new flowers and put them in a location where they can be easily seen by the patient; this brings something new into the room that will make the patient feel well cared for. If the patient is a child, now is the time to introduce a new book or toy.
