ROM, Restorative and Positioning

Vocabulary flashcards covering the principles of restorative nursing, body mechanics, resident transfer safety, gait belt use, ambulation, range of motion (ROM), seating devices, and restraint complications.

Restorative Nursing

Nursing care designed to restore and maintain a previous level of health and help the patient regain their highest state of functioning physically, mentally, and psychosocially.

Principles of Restorative Nursing

Core care guidelines establishing that treatment begins early, activity strengthens while inactivity weakens, further disability is prevented, focus is kept on ability rather than disability, and the whole person is treated.

Specialized Rehabilitation Services

Task-oriented services flowing from acute injury with input from all disciplines, focused on retraining, education, and teaching new skills within a specific time period, provided by trained specialty therapists (speech, physical, occupational therapy).

Complications of Immobility

Adverse secondary conditions prevented by restorative nursing, consisting of pressure ulcers, contractures, constipation and impaction, lung congestion and pneumonia, and circulatory problems.

Proper Body Mechanics

Movement principles—such as bending at the hips and knees instead of the waist, spreading feet apart, and keeping the back, neck, pelvis, and feet aligned—used to avoid injury, minimize muscle fatigue, and provide stability.

Base of Support (Body Mechanics)

The foundation created by spreading the feet apart to maintain stability, maximize body strength, and provide balance when lifting or moving residents.

Under-Arm Lifting Prohibition

A critical transfer safety rule forbidding staff from lifting a resident under the arms, as doing so can cause nerve damage, fractures, and shoulder dislocation.

Strong Side Chair Positioning

The transfer safety procedure of placing the chair on the resident's strong side when transferring an individual who has an identified weak side.

Lift Sheet

A sheet utilized during resident movement and positioning when the resident is unable to assist, ensuring careful handling and proper body mechanics.

Gait Belt

A special belt applied snugly around a resident's waist over clothing or a gown that provides the CNA with a secure handle during transfers, ambulation, or repositioning in a chair.

Exceptions to Gait Belt Use

Specific clinical contraindications where a gait belt must not be used: colostomy present, acute rib or vertebra fracture, abdominal aneurysm, gastrostomy tube, and post abdominal surgery.

Ambulation Assistance Protocol for Falls

The required safety measure of assisting the resident safely to the floor if they begin to fall during ambulation.

Range of Motion (ROM)

The amount of movement of each joint; exercises performed to preserve joint flexibility and mobility, promote musculoskeletal health, and prevent contractures and muscle atrophy.

CNA Responsibilities in ROM

Direct care standards for range of motion, requiring 3 to 5 repetition sets within easy movement without causing pain, supporting the joint above and below, handling with open palms, and stopping immediately to report pain to the charge nurse.

Positioning and Seating Devices

Equipment such as manual wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, scooters, canes, crutches, walkers, cushions, and tilt/recline features designed to improve body stability, provide trunk and head support, and reduce pressure on the skin.

Restraint

Any manual method or physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to the individual's body that they cannot remove easily, which restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one's body.

Physical Complications of Restraints

Severe adverse physical outcomes from restraint usage, including bruises, cuts, entrapment, siderail strangulation and suffocation deaths, poor circulation, constipation, incontinence, weak muscles/bone structure, pressure sores, and infections.

Quality of Life Outcomes of Restraints

Psychosocial impairments associated with restraint use, including reduced social contact, withdrawal, loss of autonomy, depression, disrupted sleep, agitation, and loss of mobility.