Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Girl, it’s so worth it: This red nylon sheet is a powerful tool for caregivers

At Endeavor rehab, when transferring me to bed for the night, a couple of the nurse’s aides lowered me onto a torso-length red nylon sheet spread on the bed. They used this sheet to move me on the bed. My roommate in this place was recovering from shoulder surgery, and turned out to be a real busybody. She always had her nose in my business. “What’s that?” she said to the female aides working on me. See what I mean?

“We use it for positioning,” the aide said about the red sheet. “It makes things easier. I use it all the time.”

Or do you say "slide sheet"?

The roommate got on her phone and found it online. The aide explained that the sheet comes in one-ply and two-ply versions. Some people like the one, other people like the two, it all depends. “Either way, it doesn’t cost much,” the nurse said, “Girl, it’s so worth it.”

“Huh,” said the busybody. She was working that phone of hers, so I had a premonition that at some time in the future I would be seeing one of these at my own home. I guess I should mention here that the roommate was also my wife.. Details, details.

“Done,” she said. “I ordered one.” See? The nurse’s ‘girl’ sealed that deal.

I should further disclose that the roommate is also my caregiver. Also that she and I are mighty grateful to that aide because the red nylon sheet has proven to be a very useful tool over these last several, eventful months.

The way the sheet works is that the nylon material is so slick that there is little to no friction when sliding. Mab will lay it out on the bed and lower me onto it with the Hoyer. The sheet is about 26 inches from top to bottom enter before we incorporate and about 52 inches side to side — only large enough for my bottom, but I guess that’s where most of my weight meets the bed. ( ! ) (Do you like my character? I came up with it just now.) Next, by grabbing an edge of the red sheet, she can more easily slide me into position higher or lower, or side to side.

Also, since we ordered one that is a continuous piece between the top layer and bottom, she can pull the red sheet out in a really nifty way. From the side of the bed, she grabs the bottom layer of sheet and pulls it out from under me. With several small tugs, one after another, she pulls out more and more of the bottom layer, while the top layer directly under me lies undisturbed. Eventually even that top layer gets tugged out, and voila, she’s pulled out the entire sheet without having to turn me over this way and that, like she would to remove a cotton sheet, for instance. It’s pretty ingenious. And the more she uses it, the better she gets with it, and the more uses she seems to discover.

A good example was when we broke an axle on our travel trailer during a recent cross-country trip. We got stuck in a Motel 6 for a weekend until we could arrange a repair for the trailer. Of course, like so many hotel beds nowadays the motel bed was on a platform. Many of you know what happened next: We were unable to use the Hoyer lift to transfer me in and out of bed because the platform blocked the Hoyer’s legs from rolling underneath. Bed platforms are everywhere in hotels across the country and are the reason we moved to a travel trailer in the first place. We have many horror stories about dealing with platforms and with hotel management concerning them. But wait, now we have the red nylon sheet. Stand back, citizen, and watch it work its wonders!

Rather than brute-force me up and out of my wheelchair, my brother had the great idea of lowering me onto the corner of the bed as best we could with the Hoyer. So, I was barely on the bed and way out of position, but I was on top of the red nylon sheet. My brother took hold of the sheet and slid me all away up to the top of the bed, just like that. His eyes bugged almost out with surprise at how easily it went. Actually it was pretty fun!

We are especially glad to have it now with Mab's still-healing post-surgical shoulder. She’s been operating carefully with 1.5 arms. Since she insists on still caregiving for me, but her using the red nylon sheet, the tasks of moving me around, and pulling the sheet out at the end of the process, are all much easier and safer. Thank goodness.

The cost of this wonderful aid: $12.

If you’re a caregiver, or know a caregiver, then girl/boy, you need to know about this one.

Here are some demonstration videos.

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