{"id":2409,"date":"2018-02-08T12:09:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T20:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/safecarebc.ca\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:46:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:46:31","slug":"lessons-learned-commode-shower-chairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/?p=2409","title":{"rendered":"Lessons learned: Commode shower chairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of our member organizations has reported that over the past year-and-a-half, there have been three incidents of residents becoming jammed in the centre of a U-shaped commode\/shower chair while being showered. Emergency services were called to extricate the resident from the chair in two of the three incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While emergency care was not needed following the incident (only minor bruising or no signs of physical trauma), it was a distressing experience, as the three residents have a diagnosis of dementia and were unable to follow instructions. In each case, care aide staff was present, with two staff receiving muscle-strain injuries and were off work as a result. The chairs in question were removed from use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Inconsistent Equipment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many homes do not have a standardized shower\/commode chair. There are different suppliers with a variety of chairs. In addition, there is inconsistency in the design regarding the use of seatbelts, wheels, and openings at the front of the chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the incidents noted above, the chairs had a U-shaped opening. In two of the cases, the chair was an older model, and the manufacturer was unknown. In one case, the chair was less than a year old and manufactured by Drive Medical (product 660 NRS-185007)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Organization Follow-up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Due to the potential for psychological and physical trauma to residents and staff, these incidents flag risks that need to be addressed to ensure the safety and well-being of residents, particularly those with dementia and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following an investigation, the organization recommended:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Standardize commode\/shower chairs to the closed seat design to prevent any possibility of this type of incident from recurring<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staff should be educated on the resident diagnosis of dementia and \u2018gentle care\u2019 approaches so that showers and\/or bathing do not cause significant agitation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staff be educated on the use of seat belts with shower\/commode and wheelchairs&nbsp;<em>to&nbsp;<\/em>ensure that seatbelts are appropriately fit and used (i.e. not loosely applied or used as an inappropriate restraint leading to a risk of strangulation)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All residents requiring seat belts in chairs to be assessed and fit by an Occupational Therapist to ensure safe use of this restraint<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All U-shaped chairs should be used only with residents able to respond consistently to verbal coaching,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A complete inventory of shower\/commode chairs to be completed within six months<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Due to the potential for psychological and physical trauma to residents and staff, these incidents flag risks that need to be addressed to ensure the safety and well-being of residents, particularly those with dementia and staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"topic":[20,104,56,74],"class_list":["post-2409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-work-well-digest","topic-dementia","topic-musculoskeletal-injuries","topic-overexertion","topic-safe-handling"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-15 21:55:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2410,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions\/2410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2409"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftopic&post=2409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}