Ask the Editors
If you have a question you would like to ask the editors, Lisa Dougherty and Sarah Lister, please email them at AsktheEditors@rmh.nhs.uk. The editors will consult with the clinical experts for each chapter and provide a response.
Questions to the editors (listed by chapter)
Chapter 41 Spinal cord compression management
Have you any recommendations or resources regarding log rolling a patient?
Diz Hackman, Specialist Physiotherapist and Jill Cooper Head of Occupational Therapy have given the following response on log rolling a patient:
We would recommend that the student nurses discuss it with the physiotherapists on their ward, or if they are still college-based, ask their lecturers to bring in a physio speaker to cover this. As it is a practical issue, it is absolutely essential that they have an expert to physically show them how to do this, practice it over and over again and to be there to correct them if they are not doing it correctly. It can be quite easy to twist the patient if the head, neck, hips, etc are not aligned and the physiotherapist could problem solve with them if they thought of any examples of where it would be very difficult e.g. toileting, washing, pressure care etc.
The link below may be a useful reference for student nurses to use as it gives a good description and photo’s of the procedure.
Also, ASIA (American Spinal Injury Association, www.asia-spinalinjury.org/) which has developed a standard assessment form has a useful web-site with definitions for log rolling but this is not as specific as the guide above.
© 2008 Wiley-Blackwell
