Hospital bed propping pillow

A prop to hold a patient on his/her side while in a hospital bed in which a standard-sized hospital pillow is stowed in a rolled condition within a launderable sleeve having a sleeve-attached flap of approximately eight inches tucked beneath the patient's side which allows limited patient rolling movement against the prop which contributes to patient comfort. The eight inch dimension of the flap keeps the prop close to the patient so that more drastic movement which could cause injury does not occur.

The present invention relates generally to a bed prop for a hospitalized 
patient, and more particularly to improvements in how the bed prop 
responds to passive and active interludes of the patient, to the end of 
significantly contributing to comfort and safety in the use of the bed 
prop. 
Example of the Prior Art 
Bed props for hospital use are well known, as exemplified by the bed prop 
described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,282 issued to Helen Inez 
Bond for "Therapeutic Prop-Like Support For Hemiside Reclining Persons" on 
Dec. 9, 1975. These known bed crops are desirably constructed of 
launderable fabrics and are appropriately shaped, usually as a cylinder, 
to support a patient in a desired angular position on the patient's left 
or right side, to keep out of contact with the bed surface the patient's 
back and/or stomach, or the other propped-up side, in accordance with the 
handling of the patient dictated by the circumstances. In the use of these 
known bed props for the propping of hospital patients however, the 
patients are immobilized against movement, and thus in an active interlude 
the patient's effort, consciously or inadvertently, to resist being 
totally immobilized contributes to discomfort and in some cases even to 
injury. Total immobilizing of hospital patients is not necessary for 
proper care-giving and thus if dispensed with, would obviate unnecessary 
discomfort and injury. 
Broadly, it is an object to provide an in-hospital used bed prop overcoming 
the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. 
More particularly, it is an object to provide a patient-responsive bed prop 
for a hospitalized patient that uses to advantage good nursing practice in 
hospitals, as will be subsequently better understood, to render the bed 
prop more comfortable and safer to use.

Professional care givers and those familiar with hospital patient treatment 
understand that good nursing practice requires that the needs of bedridden 
hospital patients, and particularly those using a support or bed prop, to 
hold a healing wound out of contact with the bed surface or the like, be 
attended to at very specified time intervals, usually of 2-3 hours 
duration. It is also known by common experience that during a time 
interval, the patient can be passive (FIG. 1) or active (FIG. 6) , the 
latter being manifested by a rolling movement against the bed prop, 
generally designated 10 in drawings. 
Underlying the present invention is the recognition that if the patient 12 
is passive, the bed prop 10 will serve its end purposes intended, and that 
if the patient 12 is active, any difficulty caused by the activity will be 
corrected by the following of the nursing practice noted, and that until 
such correction the bed prop 10 should not immobilize the patient 12 since 
immobilization or inability to turn can cause injury to the patient 12, 
all as will be better understood as the description proceeds. 
FIG. 1 illustrates the patient 12 in what will be understood to be a 
hospital bed 14 propped on a side 16 which is a well known position for 
various care-giving treatments, in which the bed prop 10 is wedged by an 
attached laterally extending L-lap 18, of an extending length 20 
preferably not exceeding eight inches, against the patient's back 22 such 
that if the patient 12 is passive, flat 18 holds the bed prop 10 in place, 
as illustrated in FIG. 1. 
Bed prop 10 includes a pillow 24 standardized in size for hospital use and 
which is rectangular in shape and measures 18 inches in width 26 and 23 
inches in length 28 and which when rolled in the direction of the arrows 
30 in FIG. 2 assumes helical turns 32 that typically has a diameter 34 of 
71/2inches. 
Cooperating with the rolled pillow 24, 32 of FIG. 3 is a cylindrical sleeve 
36 sewn along seam 38 and having open ends 39 and which has a wall 
circumference 40 of preferably 23 inches bounding a pillow compartment 42 
adapted by its size to receive in projected or stowed relation therein the 
rolled pillow 24, 32 through one of the end openings 39. Sleeve 36 has 
elastic strips 46 hemmed in the edges 48 bounding the end openings 39 to 
contribute to holding the stowed rolled pillow 32 within the compartment 
42. As thusly constructed and using as a construction material a fabric 
that is launderable, simple removal of the rolled pillow 32 prepares the 
sleeve 36 for sanitizing as required. 
Completing the construction of the sleeve 36, and to be noted as an 
essential component thereof, is the previously noted flap 18 also of 
launderable fabric construction material having an edge 50 best caught in 
the seam 38, as at 52, so as to extend laterally of the sleeve 36, as 
noted at 54, a selected distance under the weight of the patient 12 as 
best illustrated in FIG. 1 and typically being eight inches. 
As best shown in FIG. 6, if the patient 12 is active, this activity will be 
manifested as an effort to roll in the direction 56 from the propped 
position, depicted in full line at 58, into the changed position, depicted 
in phantom line at 60, these position changes 58 and 60 being against the 
bed prop 10 and a function of the weight of the patient and the extent of 
effort, knowingly or inadvertently, exerted by the patient 12. If these 
position changes 58 and 60 are totally resisted by correspondingly total 
immobilization of the patient 12 by the bed prop 10, the pressure buildup 
at the patient-to-bed prop contact with each other as at 62, could, and 
has been known, to cause injury to the patient 12 and at the least to 
cause significant discomfort to the patient 12. 
Using to advantage the nursing routine or practice of attending to the 
patient 12 at least once every 2-3 hours, at which any movement change 
will be corrected as required, the flap 18 effectively contributes to 
lineal tracking 64, and obviates rolling movement of the bed prop 10 
during its position changes from full line 59 to phantom line 61 
depictions in FIG. 6. 
In practice, it has been found that the laterally extending four inch 
surface of the flap 18 is of sufficient size to maintain enough of the 
flap front edge 51 in an interposed position between the patient 12 and 
bed surface 66 to prevent complete separation of the patient 12 and bed 
prop 10 at contact location 62 and yet the bed prop 10 will partake of the 
linear movement 64 to prevent injury and discomfort of the patient. 
While the apparatus for practicing the within inventive method, as well as 
said method herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of 
attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it 
is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently 
preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended 
to the detail of construction or design herein shown other than as defined 
in the appended claims.