Patient recliners upgraded to improve safety and comfort

Two hundred and sixty-nine new patient recliners delivered to Christiana and Wilmington replaced older recliners, in a measure to improve patient safety and comfort and prevent falls.

Christiana Care Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Gary Ferguson, and Diane Talarek, MA, RN, NE-BC, senior vice president, Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer, joined a group of Christiana Care Summer VolunTEENS July 27 at Christiana Hospital to help maneuver some of the new recliners into place.

The comfortable chairs — purchased in two different models — are an example of the innovative tools and strategic partnerships that enable Christiana Care to achieve optimal health and provide patients with an exceptional experience to support The Christiana Care Way.

“Early ambulation for hospitalized patients is one of the key drivers for getting patients back to their previous level of function,” said Talarek. “Our staff reported they did not have enough recliners and [what they had] lacked many important safety features. We soon realized that we had to purchase more than a few recliners so we asked our staff for input.”

“These chairs have more safety and comfort features than the existing chairs,” said Ferguson. “This was largely a patient safety issue. The old chairs wouldn’t stay in the foot-rest-up position and posed a risk of patient falls. Many staff members reported that we needed to upgrade to the right equipment.”

Denise L. Lyons, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, FNGNA, WISH/ NICHE program coordinator, said vendors came to both hospitals to demonstrate their products in March of this year. Staff from Nursing, Maintenance, Physical Therapy/ Occupational Therapy and Patient Escort had the opportunity to see eight different recliners, and “based on their feedback we selected two.”