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Detailed Needs and Requirements: General Nursing Unit
Nursing assistance may be required for eating, dressing, hygiene, and
toileting functions; however, where possible, potential for self help in
these activities should be maximized. Patients should be encouraged
to use beside commodes or standard toilet facilities, dress and feed
themselves, and take care of their personal hygiene requirements.
They may also be encouraged to get out of bed and move about the
unit.
Patients may require care and assistance in reinforcing and
maintaining positive psychological as well as physical condition. They
should be able to freely discuss problems with social workers and
psychologists well as with unit staff and visitors. They should be able
to utilize recreational and diversional facilities, e.g. T.V., radio, games,
reading material, and to socialize with other patients to avoid boredom
or excessive introspection. However, they should be able to have an
appropriate degree of seclusion or privacy. They should be aware of
the availability of nursing care and assistance and of their ability to call
upon the staff in times of need.
The transportation of certain patients to diagnostic/treatment facilities
or the need to transfer a patient from bed to a stretcher for
transportation may be harmful to certain patients and should be
minimized where possible for these patients. Examples include: a
stroke patient who should avoid the jostling of transfer and the bump
when entering an elevator, a patient who must abandon the protection
of physiological monitoring during transfer or, an orthopedic patient in
traction who must be "unstrung" for stretcher transfer.
Some patients on general nursing units may have infectious conditions
or be particularly susceptible to infection and require isolation from the
rest of the patients on these units.
Most patients currently accommodated on general nursing units are
male; however, a small but increasing percentage of females receive
care on these units.
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