Body mechanics during patient bed transfers
Proper body mechanics during bed mobility are essential for maintaining safety, preventing injury, and promoting effective movement, whether you’re assisting a patient or performing tasks yourself. By using correct techniques, you can reduce strain on your body and improve the overall comfort and stability of the person being moved.
Proper technique considerations
An important time when proper body mechanics can protect both the caregiver and the person with injury is when moving the person in bed. Some important points to keep in mind are:
- Continue to keep good body mechanics throughout the whole activity. That is, make sure that your back is straight, your knees are bent, and you maintain a strong abdominal contraction throughout the activity.
- Ensure that the patient is as close to you as possible when providing care or moving them.
- Adjust bed height to approximately waist-height to allow you to stand comfortably with your back straight.
- Lower the bed rails to get as close to the patient as possible to help decrease the stress on your back.
- If you still feel too far away from the patient, put one knee on the bed to get closer, maintaining a straight back throughout.
- Stagger your feet and shift your weight throughout the movement.
- Reposition the patient to assist you throughout any movement being performed.
- When moving the patient in bed, try to avoid reaching over him/her, as this puts your back at risk for injury.
- To roll the patient, always roll toward, not away from you. This is safer for both you and him/her.
- To make rolling easier, bend the patient’s opposite knee. For example, when rolling to the right, bend the left knee.
- Put the hand closest to the patient’s head behind the opposite shoulder blade.
- Never use a person’s arm to roll them, as this can harm the shoulder.
- Put the hand closest to the patient’s feet behind the opposite hip.
- To avoid straining your upper back when rolling the patient, lean back. Do not pull with your arms.