5.2.3 Dressing and Undressing a Client in Bed

Dressing the client in bed requires good communication and perhaps a second staff member to avoid safety concerns. The easiest garment to change in and out of, by design, is the hospital gown, but most clients in LTC wear standard “street” clothing, so it is very important to take care to prevent discomfort when bending and moving a client’s extremities.

Putting a hospital gown on a client who is lying in bed

Let’s start with a short video demonstration of how to change a hospital gown.

Click here for a video transcript in .docx format: Video Transcript

When changing street clothes while a client is in bed, the client can be dressed while sitting up in bed, if they are able to do so, or the client will need to be turned side to side for the upper garment dressing. Follow these guidelines:

Putting a shirt on a client who is able to sit

1. Lower the side rail on your side of the bed.
2. Support the client’s affected side if they are able to sit.
3. Lift and support their arm to thread it through the sleeve area.
4. Continue to support the affected side while sliding the garment to the unaffected side, and thread the unaffected arm through the sleeve area.
5. Garments that have an opening for the head will require you to slide the head into the neck opening.
6. Support the affected arm, and have the affected arm placed in the sleeve area before the unaffected arm and the garment are pulled down.

When removing the garment, the unaffected arm would be removed first to make more room for the affected arm to be removed without discomfort.

Putting a shirt on a client who is lying in bed

When assisting a client in changing a button or zip-up garment while lying down, follow these instructions:

1. Turn them onto their unaffected side.
2. Hold the affected arm and thread it through the sleeve area of the front- or back-closing garment.
3. Turn the client to the other side.
4. Gather the garment in the front or the back depending on the closures
5. Tuck/slide the garment under the client toward the unaffected arm, to thread it through that sleeve area and close the garment.

Putting pants on a client in a bed or chair

When dressing a client’s lower body in pants (or briefs) in bed or a chair, follow these steps:

1. Slide the pants over the feet (without shoes).
2. Alternating sides, pull the legs of the pants up slowly to the hips.
3. If the client can raise their hips, ask them to do so. Then slide the pants up. If they are unable to raise their hips, turn or move the client side to side while sliding the garment up over their hips.

Here is a video of dressing a client while in bed.

Click here for a video transcript in .docx format: Video Transcript

It is recommended that you practice these procedures with a stand in before trying them with a client.