View Full Version : SCI Nurse- pivot transfer
One of my aides would like to learn how to do a pivot transfer (for the last 20 years, he's transferred me simply by picking me up - lack of appetite has one benefit, I'm light - but he's not as young as he used to be, either, and we'd like to preserve his back.) Can you direct me to a text file that describes the proper technique(s)?
Thank you, as always, for any help.
SCI-Nurse
09-19-2002, 01:17 PM
Alan - There is nothing in the links. Let me ask one of our physical therapists here to put it in understandable terms! I know how to do one but it is difficult to explain it briefly to you. When your attendant "picks you up", does he put your knees between his and then pivot around? Are you asking now to do more of a depression type transfer with your feet on the ground? PLG
No - that's the type of transfer he wants to learn (the my knees between his.) What he currently does is lift me like a man carrying his new bride over the threshhold.
SCI-Nurse
09-19-2002, 03:05 PM
OK Alan. Thanks for more info. I will get back to you! PLG
If the other type of transfer you mentioned (my feet on the ground) is preferable, I'm game for that, too.
just a bump of the thread.
SCI-Nurse
09-23-2002, 06:25 PM
This type of transfer can be quite unsafe for care givers. Studies done at the Tampa VA/VISN 8 patient safety center have shown that even done "perfectly" this transfer results in stresses on the lower back and shoulders of the caregiver in excess of 600% over OSHA recommended maximums. At the center where I work we have outlawed these.
Is it possible for your to get a mechanical lift instead? If not, I would at least recommend having your caregiver taught by an experienced PT (see if you can get one in-home visit). There is really no way to teach this by just explaining that is at all safe.
(KLD)
Thanks for the information. I never knew pivot transfers could also be harmful to the transferer's back.