Bed-making

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An unmade hotel bed. Bed in Seattle hotel.jpg
An unmade hotel bed.

Bed-making is the act of arranging the bedsheets and other bedding on a bed, to prepare it for use. [1] It is a household chore, but is also performed in establishments including hospitals, hotels, and military or educational residences. Bed-making is also a common childhood chore. [2] Research suggests that unmade beds help to keep out dust mites. [3]

Contents

History

Beds must sometimes be made to exacting standards, demanded by nurses or military personnel. [4] In a hospital or other health-care environment, beds must sometimes be made while occupied by a patient. Specialised techniques are taught to healthcare staff to enable beds to be made efficiently with due care for the patient. [5] [6] Moving the patient out of the bed before remaking it is the preferred option.

There are different bed-making techniques, such as "hospital corners" and "mitred corners". Military recruits are often taught how to make a neat and tidy bed with hospital corners. Military personnel are expected to fold the bed very tightly, in some cases so that a coin can bounce off it. [7]

Starting in 2012, many self-making beds that automatically rearrange the bedding are in development and in use. [8] [9]

Record

Guinness World Records reports that the record time for two people to make a bed "with one blanket, two sheets, an undersheet, an uncased pillow, one pillowcase, one counterpane and hospital corners" is 14.0 seconds. This feat was achieved by two nurses from the Royal Masonic Hospital in London in 1993. [10]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedding</span> Bed covering fabrics

Bedding, also called bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment. Multiple sets of bedding for each bed are often washed in rotation and/or changed seasonally to improve sleep comfort at varying room temperatures. Most standardized measurements for bedding are rectangular, but there are also some square-shaped sizes, which allows the user to put on bedding without having to consider its lengthwise orientation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed</span> Piece of furniture used as a place to sleep or relax

A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed sheet</span> Rectangular piece of cloth or linen cotton used to cover a mattress

A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding. A bottom sheet is laid above the mattress, and may be either a flat sheet or a fitted sheet. A top sheet, in the many countries where they are used, is a flat sheet, which is placed above a bottom sheet and below other bedding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St George's Hospital</span> Hospital in Tooting, London

St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with St George's, University of London, which trains NHS staff and carries out advanced medical research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham</span> Hospital in Birmingham, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital</span> Health care facility with specialized staff and equipment

A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness. A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with many beds for intensive care and additional beds for patients who need long-term care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed base</span> Component of a bed that supports the mattress

A bed base, sometimes called a foundation, is the part of a bed that supports the mattress. The bed base can itself be held in place and framed by the bedstead. In the United States, box-spring bed bases are very common. In Europe, sprung slats are much more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital bed</span> Bed designed for hospital patients

A hospital bed or hospital cot is a bed specially designed for hospitalized patients or others in need of some form of health care. These beds have special features both for the comfort and well-being of the patient and for the convenience of health care workers. Common features include adjustable height for the entire bed, the head, and the feet, adjustable side rails, and electronic buttons to operate both the bed and other nearby electronic devices.

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Katherine Stewart MacPhail OBE was a Scottish surgeon. During World War I, she served as Chief Medical Officer of two units of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service. She cared for the wounded in Serbia, France, and the Thessaloniki Front. In 1921, during her stay in Serbia, she founded the country's first children's hospital. While she is remembered as a national hero in Serbia, she was criticised by some for providing her expertise in Serbia rather than in her own country. Her honours include several medals, plaques, and a postage stamp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals</span> Consequences of COVID-19 pandemic for hospitals

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals became severe for some hospital systems of the United States in the spring of 2020, a few months after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Some had started to run out of beds, along with having shortages of nurses and doctors. By November 2020, with 13 million cases so far, hospitals throughout the country had been overwhelmed with record numbers of COVID-19 patients. Nursing students had to fill in on an emergency basis, and field hospitals were set up to handle the overflow.

References

  1. "Make (v. 1): 62". Oxford English Dictionary . To prepare (a bed) for sleeping in; to arrange bedclothes on (a bed) for future use.
  2. Aguirre, Sarah. "Make a Bed". About.com: Housekeeping. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  3. "Untidy beds may keep us healthy". BBC Online . 18 January 2005. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  4. Curtis, Mike (1997). "Chapter 2" . Close Quarter Battle (1998 ed.). London, United Kingdom: Corgi Books. p.  44. ISBN   0-552-14465-7. At the crack of dawn, the screaming started again. Beds had to be made, with the sheets and grey army blankets stacked neatly and perfectly square on top.
  5. "Bed Making". scribd.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.A sample training document
  6. "Bed Making Procedure: Definition, Principles, Types of Bed Making". Nurses Class - Nursing guides, Care Plan, Jobs, Question Papers. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  7. McKay, Gary (1987). "Chapter 2 - Doing Extras at Scheyville". In Good Company (1998 ed.). Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin. p. 19. ISBN   1-86448-904-9. He stepped into my mess of a room and by dinnertime he had run me through the whole gammut of how to set up the room in inspection order, and how to make the bed properly so the drillies could bounce a 20c coin off the counterpane
  8. Marable, Eileen (8 June 2012). "Yes, yes a million times: Bed makes itself in 50 seconds". Dvice. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  9. "OHEA smart bed". Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  10. "Fastest time to make a bed by a team of two". Guinness World Records . Retrieved 26 June 2012.