Long-Term Care Survey Alert

This simple strategy can communicate ADL needs at a glance.

Caregivers who try to lift or shift a resident on their own can be a fall or other injury-producing accident waiting to happen.

That's why Tallwoods Care Center designates residents with certain conditions as a two-person assist at admission until the care team can determine how much support the person needs to transfer in and out of bed.

"For example, if a new resident has an admitting diagnosis of hip fracture, nursing would make him a two-person transfer until" therapy evaluates the person, says Clare Polatschek, RN, the MDS coordinator for the facility.

A picture can get everyone on the same page: To give staff a quick heads up that a resident requires a two-person assist or mechanical lift to transfer, the facility has devised pictorial symbols to place above the resident's bed. For example if the person is a two-person assist, staff would place a "picture symbol of two hands over his bed," says Polatschek. A picture symbol of two hands and a smiley face lets staff know to use a Hoyer lift for transfers, she adds. "That approach meets HIPAA requirements," says Polatschek because only staff can decipher the symbology. The symbols come in admission packages available for nursing, adds Polatschek.