Planning a Sick Room

[Guest Guest]

has anyone thought about a sick room? have you planned for one? where or which room? what about a room between to dress and undress before entering or leaving the patient?

 

I have been giving this a lot of thought and reading as much as I can on the subject.

 

I am thinking I would purchase a blow up mattress and then cover it in a plastic sheet so it can all be disinfected. The same for a pillow.. having a plastic pillow case to cover the pillow itself, but sleeping on plastic both mattress and pillow is misserable, especially if sweating. So I will need to have pleanty of sheets and mattresses pads. This creates a new problem.. where am I going to wash this???

 

I don't want to bring dishes in or out, how will I handle the leavings from a bed pan... oh a bed pan!!!

 

everything has to be disinfected once used... but how?

[Bamboo]

Westie, someone posted here, about a month or two ago, all kinds of info on how to do this. I've searched this morning and I can't find it. I'm not sure if it was posted in the flu clinic, the spa, maybe homesteading...maybe its in the first pages of the medical book being discussed in homesteading. Sorry I couldn't find it because it was good.

[ricardo]

Here is one person's idea for their sickroom.

 

Pick out your sickroom, which may or may not be your bedroom. Consider your needs: you'll need to cook and get to the bathroom. Which room is most vital, and which is closest? During one severe bout of flu, I lived in a townhouse with the bathroom upstairs and the kitchen downstairs. I chose to reside upstairs for the duration of my illness so I could have the toilet and shower close by. The bathroom is also a source of drinking water.

 

Prepare your bed. Keep extra blankets nearby for chills, and clean sheets. I suggest NOT making up the bed as usual: don't tuck in the sheets, etc. Lay the clean sheets on top so that you can simply pull or push them off when you need a change of linen. Simply unfold the clean sheets and lay them on the mattress. Remember that you're going to be weak, and even simple tasks such as making up the bed can sap a lot of energy.

 

Have clean underwear/nightwear next to the sheets and blankets so you can change quickly and easily.

 

On your bedside table, lay out your fever-reducing meds (aspirin FOR ADULTS ONLY, tylenol, ibuprofen) and your cold meds. I highly recommend Contac's Severe Cold and Flu formula and Theraflu (which tastes terrible; add a teaspoon of honey or sugar). Nose spray if you use it, lip balm for dry lips and cold sores, lotion for fever-dry skin, your boxes of tissues and some baby wipes (these are great for quick clean ups, or to freshen up if you become to weak to shower). Also have a clock and a pad of paper. This is to help you keep track of when you took your meds, which can quickly become a blur due to the drowsiness many of them cause and the disorientation caused by fever.

 

Put the PHONE nearby. Suggest having a buddy system with a trusted friend. Notify this person that you are ill, and arrange to have them call you at predetermined times. This person will know that if you don't answer at the proper time, something is wrong and it's time to send the paramedics to your house.

 

You will also need a 32 gallon trash can. This is to hold all the trash that you will accumulate during your illness. You may wish to have a second one, or at least a large laundry hamper, next to it for your dirty clothing and linens.

 

Chamber pot and toilet paper: Have this next to or near the bed in the event that you become to weak to make it to the bathroom. Get a large orange drywall bucket from Home Depot. Double-line it with the trash bags, and cover the bottom with kitty litter. After use, sprinkle in a fresh layer of kitty litter.Some camping stores even sell toilet seats that fit the drywall buckets!

 

Trash bags: for the chamber pot if you need to change it, and in case you need to vomit. used ones, filled with trash, go in the big trash can.

 

DINING: Remember, again this assumes that you have prepped for your illness and that these items are already in your kitchen ready to go.

 

Bring the microwave out of the kitchen and put it on your dresser, or someplace near your bed. Put your paper plates, cups, and plastic silverware next to it. If you have an ice chest, this should be nearby. I have the Coleman Extreme Ice Chest, which keeps ice for up to five days in 90 degree plus weather. I kept my juice, water, etc in it.

 

FOOD TO STOCK: Canned soups, bouillon cubes, canned pudding, bottled fruit juice or juice boxes, hot tea, sodas, crackers, powdered cocoa mix, whatever turns you on that you think you can eat.

 

Books, the tv, whatever for amusement if you feel up to it.

 

My bed is in the middle of my room. I had my nightstand for my meds and the phone. Next to that was my pile of extra blankets, then my stack of clean sheets. Then my stack of clean clothes, the chamber pot and its supplies, then the big trash can.

 

On the other side of the bed is my dresser. That's where I put the microwave and the foodstuffs and the ice box.

 

Note that all this allowed me to use the toilet, access my meds, change into fresh nightgowns, change my sweat-stained sheets, and cook and eat with a journey from my bed of only a few feet.

 

TB2000

[ricardo]

This came from TB200. CanadaSue wrote it and she is a nurse.

She wrote this when Smallpox was a possible threat but a

sickroom is a sickroom. This is very detailed and long. I

am shortening it but here is the link so you can read it

in detail.

 

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread....hlight=sickroom

 

Here is what you want to look for in the 'ideal' room, or the best one possible. Preferably, it is painted with semigloss or other washable paint. If it has wallpaper, that wallpaper is NOT textured. If your ideal room otherwise has textured wallpaper, don't sweat it. There are ways to clean that too & if you ruin the paper while caring for a smallpox victim, all in a good cause. You want as few openings into the room as possible; preferably just a door & perhaps a window. Electrical outlets, heating outlets or ventilation outlets should be sealable or easy to spray with cleaner while you're using the room as a 'hospital room. You want flooring you can wash. If the room is carpeted, how fast can you strip out the carpet or area rugs? If you can, great. If you can't do it easily, find another room or steel yourself to ripping it up anyway, WHEN YOU NEED TO. If you're working in a basement room & are dealing with unsealed concrete, no big worries, that can be cleaned too.

 

If you're going to use this room, when you do need it, you need to remove the following: everything except what you absolutely need. Curtains come down as do curtain rods & such fixtures. A basic blind is best - easier to clean & keeps out light. Anything on the walls, photos, kids drawings & other art, posters, everything. Yeah, you need a time piece, but a small alarm clock in a Ziplock bag is much easier to keep virus free. Examine any openings into the room, outlets of various sorts, vents etc. Can they be sealed with duct tape or electrical tape? Being able to do so will make it a whole lot easier to keep virus IN the room & away from everyone/everything else.

 

If you need to use the end or corner of a room, you can partition it off with a large sheet of heavy duty polyethylene or some kind of plastic. Pre-measure & buy some as well as LOTS of duct/electrical tape to seal off your space, allowing room for a flap for an entrance of course. Pick up enough of this sort of plastic sheeting for several complete walls, (stuff happens) & enough for patches should you accidently pierce through your 'wall'. Okay, so you may have to get clear plastic which kills privacy, but I assure you, this will not be the major concern for you or your patient.

 

It's handy if your chosen room is close to a bathroom. An ensuite is perfect, but not necessary, just really handy. Nearby laundry facilities are great. In an apartment & have to use common facilities? That can be done without endangering others as well.

 

A closet in the room is handy but in the absence of one, several plastic bins can serve the same purpose & can be stored under a table. It helps if they're covered, although that's not entirely necessary & being plastic, they're easier to keep virus free.

 

Now how do you need to furnish the room? Remember, the idea is to simplify your life as caretaker. You want those furnishings you need to care for your patient & you need them easy to keep clean. You don't want so many items in there that you start tripping over things or have to waste a lot of time keeping things virus free.

 

First thing you need is a bed. Keep it simple. If your back & knees, not to mention hips, are up to it, try putting a mattress right on the floor. IF you can, place it on a sheet of plastic, you may have body discharges to deal with that are easier to clean off plastic than the floor. Put the bed as far from the room door as possible. The farther the virus has to travel to infect anyone else, the better. Don't, if possible put it right up against the walls. You may need to access your patient from both sides of the bed.

 

Next you need a table to put your basic nursing supplies on. If the room is big enough & you have them, 2 tables might be preferable. One near the patient's bed & one near the door for other supplies which may come in handy. If you can only manage one, go for a larger one which you'll keep close to the door. These don't need to be special in any way, except easy to clean. Plastic tables, the kind you use on patios & decks are perfect. They clean easily.

 

You'll want a decent lamp, not decent as in good quality, but decent as in offering good lighting. Cheap is probably good; or one you don't mind disposing of after your patient(s) heal(s). A cheap flashlight near the patient's bed is good too. If you don't have a small table near the bed, hammer a nail into the wall within your easy reach & hang the flashlight there.

 

You'll probably want a chair in the room too, for you to rest in. Again a plastic deck chair is perfect, as long as you can be comfy in it. Put a cheap pillow on it or something to give your butt some comfort. Pillows wash & so do plastic chairs.

 

Now furniture doesn't have to be plastic. I'm simply trying to point out that plastic or other simply built & easily cleaned furniture makes the care taker's life easier in terms of cleaning effort & reduces the risk of spreading the virus.

 

When you're standing in the room you plan to use, visualize where you might put things. Determine where you're going to place things you're removing & from where will come what you ARE using in the room. Move through the room. Walk in as if you were coming in to take care of someone. Is the bed placed in a reasonable location? Does your table placement make it easy to get things? How about your chair; can you easily see your loved one from there? Littel things perhaps, but every step saved saves you energy.

 

 

 

 

[logcabinmama]

Wow, there are so many thing to think about aren't there. To be very honest, I had not thought about having a special room for a sick room.

 

I'm printing this all out.

 

Thank you for making this post.

 

 

[westbrook]

tying threads together

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=1#Post172294

[westbrook]

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...&gonew=1#UNREAD

[westbrook]

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...&gonew=1#UNREAD

[Leah]

We had a chat on this subject - http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20219

 

edited to fix broken link

 

[westbrook]

bump

[JCK88]

The old links don't work! Can this be updated...this thread is worth the double bump right now

[JCK88]

http://www.pandemichomecare.com/

 

This is a site with a FREE downloadable book about how to set up home care during a pandemic and includes information on how to create a quarantine room

[Mother]

Thanks westie, that was one of the threads I was thinking of. Printing now.