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.
How to Prevent Spreading Infections by Touching (Contact) an Object Directly or Indirectly Many infections spread through direct contact (touching the source) or indirect contact (touching something or someone who has contacted the object and has the organism on it.) The precautions for infections spread by contact require a barrier (i.e. something to prevent […]
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Preventing Skin Breakdown If your family member is immobile, they are at risk of developing skin breakdown. Learn the warning signs and ways to prevent breakdowns from occurring. Family Needs Information Information on skincare, immobility, and fall prevention are essential bits of information for all caregivers. If caring for someone fragile,
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Recognizing Skin Breakdown When Something Doesn’t Look Right, What Does It Mean? When the Skin Changes Color, What’s Happening? When skin first starts to break down, one of the first things you see is a change in skin color due to a decrease in blood flow to the area. The pink skin makes
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Videos Demonstrating Emergency Response Techniques The following videos provide visual demonstrations of emergency response techniques. You can see and hear how to correctly perform rescue breathing, chest compressions, and the Heimlich Maneuver by reviewing them. I obtained the videos from PROTrainings’ collection of YouTube presentations related to emergency responses. ProTrainings conducts a wide variety
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Caregiver Training Videos – Links to YouTube People learn in many different ways, but viewing the performance of a task multiple times promotes the recall of steps through repetition. Therefore, I searched YouTube for caregiver training videos that demonstrated professional caregivers performing tasks that home caregivers might need to perform. Some procedures have multiple
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Helpful Ostomy Training Videos from YouTube Blockages and Obstructions If you have an ileostomy or colostomy, you’ll likely be told to avoid blockages and bowel obstructions. This video explains a few of the things that writer, Vegan Ostomy, does to prevent blockages and some tips she has found helpful if she does end up with
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Healing Skin Breakdown Healing Skin Breakdown Quickly Before It Gets Worse Is Essential Healing skin breakdown quickly and successfully is essential to prevent serious consequences to your family member’s health. Skin breakdown often leads to full-body infection (sepsis), which can lead to death. therefore, as we have previously reviewed, (1) we want to keep it
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