Patent Application
20160005340
This document relates to the field of health care, and particularly to garments for use in hospitals and other medical facilities.
It is a common practice of hospitals to identify patients who are at risk of falling, either while in bed or while moving. Patients who do fall can exacerbate preexisting conditions or sustain new injuries altogether, thus extending the length of their hospital stay. In order to deal with this problem, hospitals often mark such patients with a colored bracelet, colored socks, or a colored blanket so that healthcare professionals are made aware of the falling risk. However, wristbands and socks can be difficult to see, and blankets are only effective when the patient is in their bed.
Known devices that relate to garments that may be worn around an individual's neck typically consist of cloth bibs that are disposed on the front of the user and have straps extending around the neck of the individual that can be removably and adjustably secured together. However, these devices do not provide means for clearly identifying individuals or a means of securing the garment directly to a hospital gown. Moreover, these devices may actually endanger certain patients because they wrap around the neck and are fastened at the back of the neck.
Accordingly, there is a need for a patient identifying garment that is easily visible and thus makes patients who are at risk of falling quickly identifiable. Furthermore, there is a need for such a garment to be safely, easily and comfortably secured to an individual.
In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided an easily visible patient identifying garment that can be secured to the snaps or other fasteners of a hospital gown. The identifying garment includes a flexible sheet having a visible indicator. The flexible sheet has a first lateral edge, a second lateral edge, an upper edge and a lower edge. The width of the flexible sheet exceeds the diameter of an adult human neck. At least two straps extend from the upper portion of the flexible sheet, each strap having at least one hole therethrough. Each hole is adapted to be secured between a plurality of fasteners on a shoulder portion of a hospital gown. In the exemplary embodiment described below, the flexible sheet is of a general rectangular shape, and the visible indicator is a solid color, such as a yellow color. Furthermore, the upper portion may have a central concave edge portion outlining a human neck disposed between first and second top edge portions. The identifying garment may have third and fourth straps as well, disposed adjacent to the first and second straps.
The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. While it would be desirable to provide a patient identifying garment that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned advantages.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and described in the following written description. It is understood that no limitation to the scope of the invention is thereby intended. It is further understood that the present invention includes any alterations and modifications to the illustrated embodiment and includes further applications of the principles of the invention as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.
With reference to
With continued reference to
Referring now to
The visible indicator of the identifying garment 10 is a color, pattern or other indicator provided on an exposed surface 11 of the flexible sheet 12. For example, in at least one embodiment, the visible indicator is a solid color covering the entire exposed surface, thus making the solid color easy to see and recognize by health providers. In at least one embodiment, the solid color on the exposed surface is yellow or another easily identifiable color. Because the exposed surface is relatively large (e.g., greater than the width of a human neck), the exposed surface 11 and associated indicia (e.g., a solid yellow color) is easy to identify. The shape of the flexible sheet 12 is generally rectangular and covers most of the chest of the patient wearing the identifying garment 10, but as noted above, the flexible sheet 12 may also be provided in other shapes and sizes.
The identifying garment 10 may further comprise a third strap 38 and a fourth strap 40. The third strap 38 and the fourth strap 40 are similar to the first strap 22 and the second strap 24 in size and in shape and extend upwards away from the upper portion 18 of the flexible sheet 12. The third strap 38 has at least one hole 42 therethrough and the fourth strap 40 has at least one hole 44 therethrough as well. The at least one hole 42 on the third strap 38 is adapted to be secured between the plurality of snap fasteners 46 on the first shoulder portion 50 of the hospital gown 30. The at least one hole 44 on the fourth strap 40 is adapted to be secured between the plurality of snap fasteners 48 on the second shoulder portion 52 of the hospital gown 30. The third strap 38 is disposed on or adjacent to the first top edge portion 34 and the fourth strap 40 is disposed on or adjacent to the second top edge portion 36. As noted above, the first strap 22, the second strap 24, the third strap 38 and the fourth strap 40 can have a plurality of holes therethrough. Accordingly, while
With continued reference to
The rear side 62 of the medical gown 30 is complimentary to the front side 60 and may be symmetrical to the front side 60 in shape. Accordingly, when the rear side 62 is paired to the front side 60, a gown that covers both the anterior and the posterior of the torso portion of the human body is formed. Fastener members 46, 48 are provided along the top edge of the rear side 62. These fastener members 46, 48 are complimentary to the fastener members 46, 48 provided along the top edge of the front side 60. Accordingly, if male snap members are provided on the front side 60 of the medical gown 30, female snap members are provided on the rear side 62, and vice-versa. When the snap members on the front side 60 are aligned with the snap members on the rear side 62, and the snap members are engaged, the complementary snap members remain engaged, thus securing the front side 60 to the rear side 62 such that a complete medical gown 30 is formed. The complete medical gown 30 is configured to hang from the body of the wearer without falling off the wearer. While the fastener members 46, 48 have been described herein as snap members, it will be recognized that in other embodiments any of various other types of fastener members (e.g., Velcro members) may be utilized on the medical gown 30.
In the embodiment disclosed herein, the identifying garment functions similarly to a conventional bib but with added features of heightened visibility indicating that the patient is a fall risk and straps that attach directly to the hospital gown as opposed to the straps fastening or adhering together behind the user's neck. The identifying garment can be placed on the user by lining up the holes on the straps with the snap fasteners on the hospital gown and then closing the snaps together to secure the straps in place. In the exemplary embodiment of
As shown in
Disengagement of the fastener members on the medical gown 30 will cause the gown to be disheveled or completely fall away from the patient. Accordingly, a disheveled or missing gown will alert the medical professionals entrusted with care of the patient that the patient has either attempted to remove or has successfully removed the identifying garment 10 without approval of the medical professionals.
With reference now to
With the patient wearing the identifying garment 10, medical professionals in a medical facility (e.g., a hospital, rehabilitation center, nursing home, etc.) may quickly identify the patient as a fall risk and assist the patient, as noted in step 98 of
The foregoing detailed description of one or more exemplary embodiments of the patient identifying garment has been presented herein by way of example only and not limitation. It will be recognized that there are advantages to certain individual features and functions described herein that may be obtained without incorporating other features and functions described herein. For example, in the embodiment described herein, the identifying garment is visible only on the front side of the medical gown. In alternative embodiments, the identifying garment may include a front portion and a rear portion such that the identifying garment is visible from both the front side and the rear side of the patient wearing the garment. Moreover, it will be recognized that various alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements of the above-disclosed exemplary embodiments and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different embodiments, systems or applications. Presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the appended claims. Therefore, the spirit and scope of any appended claims should not be limited to the description of the exemplary embodiments contained herein.
This document claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/021,349, filed Jul. 7, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62021349 | Jul 2014 | US |
