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CategoriesPatient Handling

Improve Safety During Spinal Blocks

by sphmedicaladmin

According to MedlinePlus, a trusted online resource for up-to-date information related to diseases and a host of wellness issues, a spinal block is commonly prescribed to patients undergoing genital, urinary tract, or other lower body medical procedures. They are also prescribed to pregnant women, in addition to epidural anesthesia, before they are due to give birth in a hospital’s labor and delivery unit. Also known as spinal anesthesia, a spinal block is a type of neuraxial regional anesthesia that involves injecting a local anesthetic or opioid directly into the subarachnoid space to block pain signals that would otherwise travel to the brain. Spinal blocks do a terrific job of keeping pain at bay so that patients can get through a needed medical procedure. But they can sometimes pose a danger to patients and medical teams alike. Improving safety during spinal blocks can be done with an epidural chair or epidural positioning device.

Safety During Spinal Blocks: The Dangers They Pose to Patients and Medical Teams Alike

Studies show that spinal blocks can increase a patient’s chances of experiencing low blood pressure, meningitis or abscess, hematomas, difficulty urinating, seizures, and headaches. As far as medical teams are concerned, many suffer musculoskeletal injuries due to lifting, repositioning, or catching falling patients that have received spinal blocks. Most of these injuries involve back pain and back strain that is so severe that many say they can’t work for a few days following their injury. To further put this into perspective, in 2016, the 8,730 days-away-from-work cases filed by hospitals involved medical teams that suffered musculoskeletal injuries while tending to patients in a hospital’s surgery department or labor and delivery unit. An epidural positioning device (EPD), such as an epidural chair, could have helped medical teams in these hospitals avoid many of these injuries, as well as improve safety during spinal blocks and epidurals.

How an Epidural Chair Can Help Improve Hospital Safety

Manually positioning or moving patients from one location to another is the leading cause of injuries among nurses, operating room technicians, and anesthesiologists involved in treating the roughly 324,000 patients who receive spinal blocks each year. These injuries have motivated many hospitals to invest heavily in medical assistive devices to improve patient handling and lower the rate of injuries among hospital workers. One such device is the epidural chair. Also known as an epidural positioning device or an EPD, epidural chairs support the arms, head, chest, and feet of patients receiving spinal blocks. The support they provide minimizes the risk of falls and makes it much easier to transport patients from one location to another as needed for their medical treatments. Studies show that hospitals that use epidural chairs file fewer day-away-from-work cases than those that do not.

Conclusion

Whether we are discussing safety in a hospital’s surgery department or its labor and delivery unit, EPDs should be part of that discussion. And this is because they make epidural pain relief via spinal blocks easier and markedly safer for everyone involved.

The EPD improves nursing and patient safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

Staff Safety During Epidurals and Spinal Blocks

by sphmedicaladmin

No Room for Error When It Comes To Staff Safety

It’s hard to imagine health care without anesthesia or analgesia. Even after 175 years, they’re a medical marvel that no one takes for granted. Technology and innovation may evolve at lightning speed, but there are still no shortcuts during epidurals and spinal blocks. Whenever anesthetists place a needle in a patient, they summon all their knowledge, training, skill, experience and powers of concentration. Where the spinal cord and nerve roots are concerned, there’s no room for error. Simply put, if epidural placement is inaccurate, pain is the least of anyone’s worries.

Positioning the Patient: What’s the Problem?

There’s more to getting pain medicine to the right place than most people realize. Before the needle can be positioned, the patient must be positioned. That’s almost always easier said than done, especially when the patient is elderly or feeble, has difficulty following instructions, or outweighs the assisting nurse. That last scenario is quite common and highly problematic.

In 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses were injured on the job at a significantly higher rate than full-time workers in other occupations. Fifty-one percent of injuries involved muscle strains, sprains or tears, and more than a fourth of those were back-related. The average recovery time away from work was seven days.

Work-related MSDs, or musculoskeletal disorders, are injuries caused by lifting or overexertion. In 2016, MSDs accounted for a whopping 44 percent of RNs’ occupational injuries.

Needless to say, if nurses go down, the whole system goes down. Maybe you’ve never given or received epidurals and spinal blocks. If not, you’re probably thinking, “How hard can it be to tell a patient how to sit?”

Well, it’s a little like telling a ballerina to hold a picture-perfect arabesque while the photographer tries different angles.

That’s an extreme example, but the point is this: Patients are asked to assume an unnatural position and sustain it throughout a tricky procedure that can’t be rushed. Incredibly, some rather primitive methods are still employed.

The Perils of Manual Positioning

To achieve the ideal position, it’s not uncommon for staff members to prop up patients on rickety bedside tables and unwieldy pillows. Nurses and anesthesiologists who lack state-of-the-art equipment must be resourceful.

With any luck, the bedside table won’t collapse or tip. Hopefully, the pillows won’t slip to the floor with the patient close behind. Women receiving epidurals before hard labor, even those who avoid injury, are in no mood for such nonsense. The assisting staff member could easily become the next patient.

Given all the things that could go wrong with manual positioning, it’s easy to see why EPD use is becoming more widespread.

The Epidural Positioning Device

For epidurals and spinal blocks it is necessary, the EPD (epidural positioning device) is a godsend. The design takes several things into account:

  • Ease and accuracy of epidural placement.
  • Patient stability and comfort.
  • Weight support up to 600 pounds.
  • Portability.
  • Staff safety.

The epidural positioner is not just a luxury item any more than a seat belt is a nice accessory for a car. EPDs make it easier for anesthesiologists to do their job. EPDs keep nurses healthy and on top of their game. EPDs help patients receive first-rate care with optimal outcomes. Given all those benefits and more, EPDs are increasingly considered necessary.

The Epidural Positioner in Thoracentesis

EDPs are widely used in labor and delivery, surgery and orthopedics. They are even useful in radiology departments.

Thoracentesis, also known as pleural tap, is a procedure to remove excess fluid in the lungs. A little fluid is appropriate for lubrication; it keeps the membranes involved in breathing from rubbing together. However, too much fluid interferes with lung capacity. Labored breathing and pain result. Excess fluid can also interfere with imaging or diagnosing disease.

In any case, thoracentesis also requires careful patient positioning and needle placement. During Thoracentesis patients must be supported in a comfortable position over a prolonged period while drainage occurs. Radiologists and their imaging teams are thankful for the EPDs that make their jobs easier and prevent injuries.

The uses and benefits of the epidural positioner become more apparent all the time. This is one innovation that will be around for a while.

https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/occupational-injuries-and-illnesses-among-registered-nurses.htm

The Epidural Positioning Devices Improves Safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

Epidural Pain Relief and Positioning

by sphmedicaladmin

Epidural Pain Relief and patient positioning occurs in both the hospital and outpatient settings. Epidurals are regional pain analgesics commonly administered before intense pain during labor, surgical procedures, or for chronic pain in the back and neck. Epidural anesthesia blocks pain in an area of the body. Epidurals provide labor pain relief rather than anesthesia, which is total lack of feeling. Proper patient positioning is important to ensure the correct location for the epidural placement but ensuring healthcare worker safety is equally important.

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) are a treatment for lower back pain and leg pain. For decades, ESIs have been considered a central component of nonsurgical approaches to sciatica and lower back pain. Epidurals and epidural steroid injections involve injecting a local anesthetic (and a steroid medication in the case of ESIs) directly into the epidural space that surrounds the spinal cord and nerve roots.

Today, much emphasis is placed on the positioning of the patient for receiving epidural pain relief for reasons of safety, for both the patient and the medical staff. Being able to quickly and comfortably administer an epidural decreases risks to all involved. To aid in this, the epidural positioning chair (EPD), commonly known as the epidural positioning device (EPD), or epidural chair, has become a valuable piece of equipment. The EPC is used in labor and delivery departments and in surgical areas to position the patient properly for the epidural procedure. The mobile positioning chair is lightweight, easy to move, and locks into place to allow for easier and safer administration of epidural pain relief.

Epidural Pain Relief, Positioning a Patient

Making sure a patient is in the right position can sometimes prove difficult. For instance, a patient’s range of motion may be limited because of pregnancy or injury. A patient’s level of distraction because of pain may also impede proper positioning administration of the epidural.

Positioning a patient for an epidural is an important consideration, as risks exist for the patient and for the medical staff administering the medicine. Throughout history, different positions have been used, and more recently, specific positions are used for specific bodily locations of epidural administration.

The various positions used usually depend on the condition of the patient. Pregnant women, for instance, are often put into a Sims position (left lateral decubitus, left leg straight, right leg bent), but it may be done with the patient sitting with their back arched, often described as an “angry cat” or “boiled shrimp” position. An epidural chair makes properly positioning patients very simple.

Epidural Pain Relief Injection and Risks to the Patient

For the patient, risks include low blood pressure in 10-20% of patients. There is a 1% risk of intravascular injection, puncture in spinal cord, and failure to block. There is less than 1% risk of infection, headache, bleeding, and allergic reaction. Patients are monitored closely during and after epidural placement, especially delivering. As mentioned, administering an epidural safely and comfortably is of utmost importance in reducing risk, and the EPD has come to play a significant role in this.

Healthcare Worker Safety

Providing epidural pain relief has improved healthcare worker safety as well. Often, a professional (or multiple professionals) are holding a patient in place manually. Pain during labor or from injury may cause a patient to unexpectedly move while receiving an epidural. Or, having an adverse reaction to the epidural may cause the patient to move. Any patient motion requires staff reaction and counter, creating musculoskeletal strain for the professional. The pushing, pulling, tugging, lifting and catching required of the healthcare worker can lead to strain injury instantaneously or over time. Very often, healthcare workers use nearby non-medical equipment like stools chairs and tables when trying to make the patient ready and as comfortable as possible for the injection. These stools, tables, and chairs often have rollers, which then require the healthcare worker to counter any movement with adverse pressure or motion. The necessity of this practice, and the risk of injury that comes with it, while being in common practical use all over the world, has been all but eliminated with the EPD or Epidural Chair. Using the EPD eliminates the physical strain on the professional, thereby eliminating much of the risk to healthcare workers associated with administration of epidurals.

Having the patient in the correct position with an epidural positioning device makes quick and safe epidural administration possible with fewer staff members. By reducing manual patient handling the EPD is a simple yet highly effective device that reduces risks for both patients and healthcare staff.

Epidural Chair improves Staff Safety
CategoriesPatient Handling

Epidural Pain Relief and the EPD

by sphmedicaladmin

Epidural anesthesia blocks pain sensation in a given region of the body and provides analgesia. The EPD improves safety for both staff and patients and increases and comfort for patients. An Epidural blocks impulses from lower spinal segments leading to reduced pain sensation in the lower part of the body. Most epidural pain relief medications are local anesthetics and are administered in combination with opioids like fentanyl.

How Epidural Pain Relief Works?

Local anesthetics are directed into the epidural space. EPD is mainly used during childbirth, management of chronic sciatica and back pain. Specialists will optimize the care to suit the needs of a particular patient.

The spinal cord carries electrical impulses between nerves and the brain. Therefore, injection of local anesthetics into the epidural space of the lower back blocks pain sensation on the leg and pelvic area.

Your anesthetist can assess the amount of feeling lost based on the type and concentration of the administered medications. However, before the effect wears off, you may not move your legs or hands.

The passing of urine will also be a challenge because the sensation that the bladder is full is absent. However, you will have a catheter to help you pass urine while on the epidural.

Preparing for the Procedure

The anesthetist will guide you on how to prepare for an epidural. It is contraindicated in patients with a history of blood clots or conditions affecting the lower back and nervous system. In addition, it is vital to tell the anesthetist if you are on blood thinners like clopidogrel, warfarin, and aspirin. During the process, you may remain awake, but you can also receive a sedative to help you relax.

Epidurals are effective in managing pain during labor. First, the anesthetist will request the patients to lie on their sides for proper medication administration, with their knees drawn up to their tummies and their chin tucked in. The patient can also sit on the bed while leaning forward. All these positions open up the vertebral space.

Epidural Pain Relief and Patient Safety

When it comes to the safe positioning of the patient and reducing risks of injuries to the caregivers like nurses, an epidural positioning device is vital. It reduces medical staff injuries and keeps patients safe. The device is the most widely employed in positioning for a variety of procedures.

The epidural chair is an example of a manual positioning device. It involves the medical staff placing the patient’s feet on the chair first and then inserting pillows underneath the upper body. Patients support their weight on the cushions.

The epidural chair has a solid foundation that can’t move easily. Instead, it provides an adjustable foot platform and locks into position to secure every patient for the procedure.

The device encourages lumbar, thoracic, and cervical flexion. In addition, it helps in epidural pain relief for pain during labor.

Benefits of Epidural Positioning Device

Some of the benefits associated with the device over the manual EPD include:

1. Lowers Risk of Complications

There is an increased risk of complexities because of the unique taxing nature of positioning in epidural procedures and spinal blocks. In the absence of a reliable and ergonomic solution like an epidural positioning device, health workers may have to use their bodies in positioning the patients and ensuring that they are secure.

The latter may cause physical injuries to the health care worker because the patient may become violent due to the intense pain. On the other hand, patients rely on pillows, but they voluntarily move when the pain becomes severe. Hence, compromising the process.

2. Eliminates Risk of Injury

Whether in preoperative settings, operating rooms, or other areas in the hospital, caregivers and nurses are having to manually position the patients for the epidural procedure. It involves the caregiver holding the stool, the table, and the patient using their body during the procedure.

The aim is to reduce movements from patients that may cause injuries. However, the act puts the assistant or nurse in a risky situation and may cause musculoskeletal injuries. Studies have revealed that awkward static holds carried out regularly cause musculoskeletal disorders. Nurses are the number one at risk profession for a MSDO and the EPD is a simple yet highly effective solution to reduce this risk.

The effects of an epidural pain relief wear off within two hours. You will be free of drowsiness associated with general anesthetics.

Epidural Chair prevents injuries
CategoriesPatient Handling

Patients Can Feel Safer With The Epidural Positioning Device

by sphmedicaladmin

The Epidural Positioning Device, Positioning Patients Safety

What commonly comes to mind when you hear the word epidural is that someone is giving childbirth, and they need an epidural to help with the pain. For a mother in labor, an epidural provides anesthesia that creates a range of numbness from the patients navel to her upper legs.  This enables the patient to be awake and alert during childbirth, while allowing the patient to feel pressure.  However, labor and delivery rooms are not the only recommended place for epidural procedures. Patients also receive epidural treatment in general surgery and as an outpatient treatment in pain management clinics. Doctors use epidural injections to relieve pain during and after surgery and to manage chronic pain. Although epidurals help with the pain, many patients may refuse them. The primary concern or risk with an epidural is the concern about what could happen if the anesthesiologist does not insert the needle correctly. With the development of the epidural positioning device by an anesthesiologist, patients can feel safer and comfortable when receiving an epidural. The Epidural Chair, as its commonly known, helps keep their body in the proper position and stable during the procedure.

Conditions Normally Treated with Epidurals

Doctors commonly use epidural steroid injections to relieve pain associated with the following:

  • Degenerative disc disease is changes that take place over time as the discs in your spine began to break down. It can affect the surrounding nerves and cause pain.
  • Disc herniation is a condition that occurs when a disk between two vertebrae slips out of place, causing the surrounding nerves to become irritated and create extreme pain.
  • Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis where the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time.
  • Radiculopathy is when the pain that travels to other parts of the body radiates from the spine caused by a spinal nerve and roots disease.

What is an epidural chair?

An epidural positioning device is an ergonomic stabilizing stand that can easily be adjusted to a patient’s body to provide them with enough support to keep them from moving during these common medical procedures. Anesthesiologists developed the EPD to position patients properly for correct placement and to reduce risk to caregivers. Before the availability of the epidural positioning device, caregivers had no choice but to position and hold patients manually, putting them at risk of a musculoskeletal disorder or other injuries. Patients were also at risk of falling off the bed or table! As the caregivers held the patients, the anesthesiologist would administer the epidural placement or spinal block and hope the patient did not move. If patients moved during the procedure, they were at risk of injury. Anesthesiologists were also at risk of being the subject of a lawsuit if something went wrong.

Benefits of the EPD:

  • Using an epidural positioner removes strain and injury risk to staff.
  • It allows the patient to be as comfortable as possible while preventing the invasion of their personal space than the traditional way caregivers positioned their patients.
  • The epidural positioner promotes bending of the neck, throat, and back area while keeping the person’s body stable.
  • The patient’s back remains immobile during epidural placement.
  • Reduces the risk of spreading infection throughout the facility.

With the epidural positioning device, caregivers can effectively position patients in operating rooms, labor and delivery suites, and other facilities where doctors perform epidurals and spinal block procedures.

Epidural Positioning Device and Thoracentesis

A more recent function of the EPD is that doctors are using it during thoracentesis procedures. Thoracentesis is the removal of excess fluid that has accumulated in the pleural space between a person’s lungs and the chest wall. The imaging department within the hospital typically sees these patients. A trained sonographer is tasked with positioning the patient and finding the correct intervertebral space to insert the needle. When preparing for the procedure, EPDs allow caregivers to position a patient to keep them stable and comfortable. Caregivers can adjust the machine to help support the patient’s chest, arm, head, and feet.

The epidural positioning device is suitable for operating rooms, labor and delivery suites, pain centers, or anywhere doctors perform epidurals. Because of the ability to adjust the device, it is ideal for patients of all body types and sizes.

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