The first few times feel awkward for everyone. After a week it becomes a two minute routine. What follows is the method most nurses use, written for a home without a hospital bed.
Before you start
Put everything within reach so you never have to walk away mid change. You will want a fresh product, an underpad, wipes or a bowl of warm water with a soft cloth, a towel, barrier cream if the skin needs it, a bin liner and clean clothes if required. Wash your hands and wear gloves if you have them.
Then tell the person what you are about to do, even if you are not sure they can follow it. Say it each time. It is the difference between care and handling.
Changing someone in bed
- Raise the bed or lower yourself properly. Bend at the knees, keep your back straight. You will be doing this repeatedly for months, so protect yourself from day one.
- Lie the person on their back and slide a fresh underpad partly beneath the hips if there is not one there already.
- Undo the tapes and fold each one back on itself so it does not stick to skin. Fold the front of the used product down between the legs, soiled side inward.
- Clean the front, wiping from front to back. This direction matters, particularly for women, because it keeps bacteria away from the urethra.
- Roll them towards you, onto their side. Ask them to hold the far bed rail or the edge of the mattress if they can. Keep one hand on the hip and one on the shoulder and turn the body as a single unit rather than twisting it.
- Clean the back, again front to back, and check the skin over the tailbone, the hips and between the buttocks while you have a clear view. You are looking for redness that does not fade, broken skin or a raw patch.
- Remove the used product and the soiled underpad, and roll them up away from the body.
- Dry the skin properly. Pat, do not rub. Damp skin under a fresh product is the main cause of soreness.
- Apply barrier cream only if it is needed, and only a thin layer. A thick coat clogs the top sheet and stops the product absorbing.
- Place the fresh product. With the person still on their side, tuck half of it under them, gathered along the centre. Roll them back over it onto their back, then pull the other half through between the legs.
- Fasten the tapes. Lower tapes first, angled upward towards the hips. Upper tapes next, roughly horizontal. Snug, not tight. One finger should fit at the waist.
- Run a finger around both leg cuffs and pull the frills outward so they sit flat against the thigh. This one check prevents most leaks.
Changing someone who can stand
Much simpler, and worth doing this way whenever they can manage it. Have them hold a grab bar or the edge of the washbasin. Tear the side seams of a pull-up pant rather than trying to pull it down soiled. Clean, dry, then step into the fresh pant one leg at a time and pull it up to sit like underwear. Check the leg elastics are flat.
Afterwards
Roll the used product inward, secure it with its own tapes, and put it straight into a tied bin liner. Wash your hands properly even if you wore gloves. Then take thirty seconds to say something ordinary and unrelated to the person, because how a change ends is what they remember.
Next, read how often to change and the skin care guide.
Written from practical experience, not as clinical instruction. If you can, ask a nurse to watch you do it once.