Chicken Wings
No I'm not thinking about the kind you might find at a restaurant covered with barbeque sauce. What I'm referring to today is a method that many people use to transfer patients. I have always detested the transferring people this way, and swear that some day I will take any person guilty of using it to the gym and hang them in the parallel bars.
This transfer is completed with two people, one on either side of the patient. Each places an arm under the patients arm, up near the shoulder. Both people lift the patient using the arms as handles, basically supporting all their weight by the shoulder joint.
If you study the anatomy of the shoulder joint, you'll find there is a large bundle of nerves located under the arm. Impingement of these nerves on a consistent basis can cause irreparable damage. If the joint itself is weak, perhaps from arthritis or history of CVA, the shoulder joint can become separated with this much force applied. With the shoulder joint being only as strong as the muscles surrounding it, the joint becomes unstable with weakness.
Years ago I worked with a gentleman who had suffered from a stroke. His shoulder was already painful and subluxed. Transfers were his worst fear, as he had fallen several times. The staff at this facility was notorious for their chicken wing lifts, and I had already become a royal pain to them regarding his transfers. This is the facility where I originally deemed the punishment for using this type of transfer to be hung on the parallel bars by your armpits for five minutes. Every time I caught staff using this transfer method I got on my soapbox. Returning to the facility on Monday after the weekend I found his name on the list of residents sent out to the hospital. When I inquired why he was out, I wanted to scream when told that his shoulder had been dislocated during a transfer.
Just the other day I came across a resident who is a bilateral AKA. Transferring this person has been occurring via the chicken wing lift. Thank goodness they have a strong upper body with no shoulder problems. However as they are capable of a sliding board transfer with just set up, this will be the new method. Period.
I've always stayed with what my teachers taught me; before you apply anything to a patient try it out on your self. Having two co-workers lift you by the armpits hurts, believe me. No, actually I want you to try it for yourself and see.
Until next time, hope all your "Thoughts" are Good-
Tim