When providing care to someone, being successful in their recovery requires more than just knowing how to change a dressing or give medication. It also requires that you know warning signs of possible trouble and how to correct them. If you think something is wrong, you need to confirm that what you think is true is correct. Before you make any changes, confirm something is wrong by comparing the current state to normal for that organ/body part. Call your family member’s doctor, remembering to share your family member’s pertinent medical history.
Caregiver Fundamentals provides a series of independent medical topics related to fundamental care areas. In addition, I offer multiple video links from YouTube so you can see the procedures performed by someone.
Monitoring Vital Signs and Understanding Core Body Temperature Most people consider the average body temperature to be 98.6oF (37oC). Normal, however, is a range throughout the day based on your activity and can also be influenced by things like menstrual and sleep cycles. The normal body temperatures may fluctuate in healthy adults by as […]
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Monitoring Your Vital Signs and Understanding Your Blood Pressure Your blood pressure has two numbers: Systolic blood pressure (top number)- The top number of the blood pressure represents the amount of pressure the heart needs to push blood out of the heart against the artery walls’ resistance when the heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure
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Relieve Pressure on the Skin – Rotate Pressure Areas Lift and turn your family member away from areas where boney areas press the skin against the bed or other hard surfaces, previously receiving all the pressure based on how they were sitting. When helping them move, do not slide them because sliding causes friction, which
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Vital Signs Each time you call a doctor to report a concern about your family member’s health, expect a question about their blood pressure, breathing, or temperature. Vital signs tell the doctor a lot about what’s happening inside the patient’s body, where the eyes can’t see. The five primary vital signs combined paint a picture
Tube Feedings for Eating Disorders (Focus on Pediatrics) If you are the parent of a child struggling to eat and not gaining weight, your physician may have warned that the next step to prevent malnutrition is to insert a gastric tube for tube feedings. When tube feedings begin, a family caregiver learns to insert a
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Types of Ostomies When many people hear “ostomy,” they immediately think of colostomy. However, there are many types of ostomies, besides a colostomy, that a caregiver might encounter. An ostomy is any surgical opening created to connect an internal organ to the outside of the body. Most function to eliminate bodily waste, but
Safe Medication Management Managing medication is all about knowing what, how, and when is the best way to take a medicine to have the best outcome. In addition, it’s important to understand why you’re taking medicine and what you should expect to happen when you take it. For example, many medications can act like poisons
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Emergency Airway Management Techniques Airway Obstructions -Choking Emergency airway management for choking focuses on helping individuals use their natural reflexes to cough out what is choking them or create an artificial cough using the Heimlich maneuver. Though tempting, do not slap someone on the back who is coughing while choking. When we get an irritant
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Videos Related to Tube Feedings Procedure for Nasogastric Insertion Tulane Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Team Training Published on Aug 20, 2018, Simple steps for inserting an NG tube ******************************************** Jejunostomy Feeding Instruction Published on Aug 7, 2017, an instructional video illustrating how to properly use your jejunal (J) tube pump. ******************************************** Unclogging a
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Using Proper Body Mechanics Knowing and using proper body mechanics helps you avoid hurting yourself. Without them, one wrong move can give you a lifetime of pain and suffering. *BODY MECHANICS ABC’s A- Adjust Equipment Height Adjust the height of any equipment you are using to allow you to work at a comfortable level. For
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