Draw sheets and plastic macs

I've heard of gerontics but I personally dont care for that one! 'elder care'? this has connotations of caring and the older / elder person. I'd be interested inothers opinions. as an infection control person I am looking at infection prevention / infection control / infection ???? what do others think?

The facility I used to work at used to have a continence strategy based on saving the nurses / pca's work. This meant the general use of kylies for incontinence in those residents whose skin was prone to breakdown or on pressure area care, draw sheets and macs for those that regularly wet the bed, double pads for large output urinary incontinence. And various other strategies depending on who was in charge, night pads used to be commonly used in combination with a 'jump suit' for those residents who persisted in removing their pad. These practices still go on.I am on the 'continence committee' at my current facility and astill lmost every NUM I meet here has a different view (including adopting some of the practices mentioned earlier). But, as private facilities like mine are driven by aged care 'standards and guidelines' one of the objectives states that 'resident's continence is managed effectively'. We have essentially adopted a strategy that covers a short term (4 days) assessment when a resident is admitted and longer term objectives of improving continence which includes getting staff to record each residents urinary and bowel habits throughout the day. This informtion is continually monitored and the care plan adjusted accordingly. It used to be that the majority of the residents were fitted with night pads but now it's the minority. This is acheived through effective prompting throughout the day and staff initiated toileting overnight. We hope to reduce the costs of pads, laundry etc as well as improve the residents quality of life.The only down side I think we have is the potential for increased falls risk for those residents we initiate toileting for overnight.I'd like ot hear of anyone else's strategies that their finding useful.

I have been interested for awhile now in aged care nursing-work, i am a mature person, and after a few years of working in another career path, have decided at this age to take the bull by the horns and just do it however my questions are is it better to this course in a classroom atmosphere or online/long distance learning, I would appreciate your input as I work fulltime and still have high school aged children etc etc to think of. thanks

Hi Kokiri,
I have 3 children and 1 still in primary school. I am a single parent and have been doing my Cert 3 in Aged Care now for 6 weeks. I do 1 day in classroom and the rest is spent studying from home. I find having the kids at school to be a blessing as it gives me the peace and quiet I need to study.
Good luck with your decision.

Apparently, this thread hasn't had an addition for almost two years.... what a shame, because it's more relevant now than ever before.

If Neil is still out there, I'd like to ask of you.... just what type of facility do you work in; why would you want to inflict 'misery' upon your elderly residents?

Let me explain....

I work in an Aged Care Facility, where we have just had a new 'imported' Nurse Manager from the UK. She has come out with this 'garbage' as well !! " There's research to say Kylies are not effecient.... " ( words to that effect ).

So she has taken them away. The result? Our poor residents are now less confident; less happy; less dry, and more confused at night, with a doubling of night falls.

We're so lucky to have this 'genius' arrive in our Facility , to save our residents ( from what, we don't quite know ).....

let me tell you what REALLY happens when you start trying to change established work & clinical practices......

The Dementia Residents take their pads off ( doesn't matter what type - they always manage to remove them ). They wet the bed. Bottom sheet needs to be changed, and generally so does the top sheet, and in bad cases, the blanket and doona. Saves washing does it???? ( no kylies )

Do kylies cause skin brakedown? Why would people think that? Do you think we leave our incontinent residents sitting on a wet Kylie, with no pad for hours?

I'm in charge of Night Shifts. Our staff ( three shifts a day ) check on EVERY resident at least every hour - even at night. The longest time a resident would be on a wet Kylie, would be just under an hour ( worst case ).

We have most of our residents using their call bells as soon as they wet the bed. Or, in other cases, for the ones we know of their habits, we check them every hour for dryness etc.

Here's the logic - Kylie = comfort & dryness. No Kylie = wet sheets. Sheets are not absorbant, like Kylies. If no Kylie, and sheet wet - what happens to mattress?

Our 'genius' UK manager didn't even notice ( or ask staff ), that there was no plastic protective covering on the mattresses. Cheaper cost price? Of course !! What's more important..... residents or money? You guess that one !!!!

As for research into Kylies Vs Pads..... the reason for no research able to be found, is because it's a 'no brainer ' concept !!! Of course you need a Kylie on the bed, REGARDLESS of the type of pad - pull ups or Sumo, or anything else. Some residents will always take them off. The bed will b wet, and staff will need to do bed linen changes. There is no cost advantage in this at all.

In the last month ( since this UK crap has been going on ), we've had three long serving AINs leave - due to increased workloads of bed changes, and running out of sheets.

Really, if there is a 'Nursing Shortage' ( there isn't really ) in the UK, can you please keep all your 'genius' managers over there..... you guys need them - we don't !!!!

Hi, our facility use both kylies, the plastic macs and draw sheets. Unfortunately, where i am it's based on individual preference rather than continence levels. I did however read an article at work one day defining Kylies for the use with residents that aren't using continence pads, but the Kylie's we have don't have plastic backing and I can only imagine the mini drama attack our laundry staff would have if we had complete bed changes every day. I like to use the kylies because they're thicker, don't crinkle up as much and to me appear more comfortable.