As proning becomes a familiar treatment method for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, this webinar, sponsored by Hillrom, will review the need to prone patients diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Jessica Montanaro, MSN, RN, Assistant Nursing Care Coordinator at Mt. Sinai and Neal Wiggermann, PhD, CPE, Research Scientist at Hillrom will review the need to prone patients diagnosed with ARDS and look to the experience of one extraordinary care unit in New York as they worked to adjust their protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proning, while an effective treatment for ARDS patients, is a complicated maneuver for nursing staff to execute. To effectively prone a patient, many departments must work together to ensure the patients safety. We will discuss how to effectively manage the team dynamic through ample communication, having a protocol in place and established and other ways this team managed to create process and procedure during a time of great chaos. The second half of the webinar will provide a review of methods used to prone patients in the ICU. Methods will be explained and compared using illustrations and video. Considerations for each method will include staffing required, necessary equipment, safety for caregivers and relative risks for patients. We will discuss how utilization of these various methodologies changes or alters the dynamic/makeup of a prone team and how to ensure you’re still effectively communicating and working together to protect the patient.
