Making an Occupied Bed
Key Points
- Occupied bed making maintains hygiene, dignity, and skin protection without removing the resident from bed.
- Side-rail sequencing, resident rolling, and wrinkle-free linen placement are critical safety steps.
- Infection-control linen handling rules remain the same as unoccupied bed making.
Equipment
- Clean fitted sheet
- Lift sheet and soaker/waterproof pad
- Flat sheet, blanket, or bedspread
- Clean pillowcase(s)
- Gloves
- Soiled-linen bag or policy-approved receptacle
- Hand hygiene supplies
Procedure Steps
- Complete routine pre-procedure actions: knock, identify resident, explain, provide privacy, and perform hand hygiene.
- Place clean linens on a clean barrier surface in use order.
- Don gloves and check for personal belongings in bed before linen removal.
- Raise side rail on protected side, move to opposite side, and roll resident toward raised rail using lift sheet.
- Roll soiled linens inward to bed center under resident, then remove gloves and perform hand hygiene.
- Place clean fitted sheet, lift sheet, and soaker pad on working side; fan-fold under resident.
- Raise side rail, move to opposite side, don gloves, lower working-side rail, and roll resident across onto clean linens.
- Remove soiled linens to linen bag and remove gloves; perform hand hygiene.
- Pull through clean linens fully and smooth all wrinkles before returning resident to supine position.
- Keep resident covered while replacing top sheet and making mitered corners.
- Replace pillowcase(s) and position pillow opening away from door; repeat for blanket/bedspread and add toe pleat to reduce foot pressure.
- Finish with post-procedure safety checks: hand hygiene, resident comfort, bed low and locked, call light reachable, and abnormal finding report.
Common Errors
- Lowering both side rails during rolling → increases fall and entrapment risk.
- Pulling linens without smoothing wrinkles → raises pressure injury risk.
- Exposing resident unnecessarily during linen changes → violates dignity and comfort principles.
- Delayed hand hygiene after soiled-linen handling → increases cross-contamination risk.
Related
- making-an-unoccupied-bed - Shares infection-control principles and mitered-corner technique.
- body-mechanics-and-safe-equipment-use - Safe turning and linen repositioning depend on proper mechanics.