Open Source Handbook of Nursing/Activity exercise

mobility

Nurses can support client mobility using a number of aids, including

• wheel chair
• hydraulic or electric lift (standing or sitting type)
• crutches
• slide sheet

Because of the seriousness and frequency of carer injuries, most health care workplaces in industrialized countries have moved to adopt no-lift policies to protect nurses from injuries sustained while mobilizing clients. Nurses have a responsibility for responsible body mechanics around manual handling tasks. For example, should have a wide base of support and prefer pushing to pulling while managing clients in supine or recumbent positions.

sprain

muscular strains occasionally rupture the muscle or associated soft tissue. The first aid treatment for such injuries can be summarized in the mnemonic

• REST
• ICE
• COMPRESSION
• ELEVATION

Immobilising an injured limb is the best course until a definite diagnosis can be made by a physiotherapist or radiological examination. There are a number of devices available for nurses to use, such as inflatable or re-usable splints and a stop sign sling made with linen around the upper limb, suspended from an intravenous pole or monkey-grip. Full plaster as a form of splinting fractures has largely been replaced by unilateral (back-slab) plaster because of the risk of compression injuries. All splints will require neurovascular observations

• COLOUR
• WARMTH
• MOVEMENT
• SENSATION
• PULSES - possibly using a doppler for pulses in the foot.