Caring for a Bedbound Patient

The caregiver of a bedbound patient is whoever takes on the care of a person who, permanently or temporarily, cannot get out of bed: their daily hygiene, feeding, mobilisation and the prevention of complications such as pressure sores. Just as important is psychological support — for the patient, and for the caregiver too, because caring for a patient can be demanding and emotionally charged.

What will you do on the course?

You practise on a real hospital bed and a wheelchair — the equipment a family rents or buys for a relative at home. The care skills are not taught one at a time: you practise them as a single routine, in the order you will need them every morning at home. Specifically, you learn:

• The caregiver's role: respect for the patient's dignity, communicating with the doctor and the nurse, and what you should not attempt without training.
• Hand hygiene: when to wash your hands, when to wear gloves and how to take them off without contaminating yourself.
• Taking vital signs: pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and temperature — the ones the doctor asks you to record, and that are measured with an instrument.
• Personal hygiene: bed bathing, washing hair with a special no-rinse shampoo cap, changing clothes and bed linen with the patient in bed, cleansing with wet wipes and changing incontinence pads.
• Preventing pressure sores: checking the skin, repositioning, using special mattresses and cushions.
• Moving the patient: turning in bed and techniques for transfers from bed to wheelchair and back, without injuring yourself.
• Feeding: giving food and fluids safely, so the patient does not choke and food does not go into the lungs (aspiration) — and how to respond to choking in someone who cannot get up, which differs from choking in a person standing.
• Medication: reading the doctor's instructions for tablets — for how many days, how many times a day and at what dose — and keeping a record of doses taken. Injections, a gastrostomy (PEG) and a nasogastric (Levin) tube are described in theory only: what they are, what to watch for and when to ask for help. Administering medication, injections and tube feeding are not taught.
• Oral hygiene: cleaning teeth, gums and dentures.
• Nail care: trimming and cleaning nails, in theory only, and when you should not do it yourself, as with the diabetic foot.
• Warning signs: when to let the doctor know and when to call 112 straight away.
• Psychological support: encouragement, listening and a positive attitude.
• Self-care: taking breaks, seeking support, looking after your own mental and physical health.

You leave with a printed guide to everything you practised, along with record sheets for vital signs and medication.

Where is the course held and what certificate do you get?

Life Support Hub's first-aid courses are held mainly in Athens: our base is in Alimos, and classes are also held at partner organisations' premises across Attica. We also travel all over Greece, depending on the schedule and on partnerships, and for companies the training takes place on their own premises.

On completion you receive a certificate of attendance of a clinical workshop from Life Support Hub — those are the exact words the document carries. “Clinical workshop” means the emphasis is on performing each technique correctly, not on the theory behind it. The course is educational in nature and does not entitle you to carry out nursing procedures.