Wk 5

Today i needed to assess patient B's ability to stand with assistance. Patient B had a stroke affecting the middle cerebral artery territory. Patient B has right side hemiplegia, expressive and receptive dysphagia and increase tone on the right side resulting in an elbow flexion contracture. I began with getting my patient into sitting on the edge of the bed. This required the assistance of two people as we rolled her to one side and then pushed up through side lying to sitting. Patient B had difficulty in sitting. She had poor trunk control and tended to fall to the right. Based upon her sitting posture and stability we decided that it would be a better idea to use a tilt table to get the patient into the standing position. To transfer her from the regency chair to the tilt table we used 3 assist and a slide sheet. We then strapped her down, ensuring that the straps were not too tight.