HoverCover™ Disposable Absorbent Cover Promotes Skin Integrity
Tampa General Hospital is one of Florida’s largest hospitals, ranked top in the state for 2022-23 by U.S. News and World Report. Earlier this year, they admitted a patient weighing more than 750 pounds.
Because of various conditions requiring extended hospital stays, the patient was no stranger to staff. To offset handling challenges presented by her weight, they routinely used HoverTech products for transfers, boosting, turning, and lifting.
“We have relied on HoverTech products hospital-wide since 2011,” says Manon Labreche, Manager of the Injury Prevention and Lift Team at Tampa General Hospital. “While particularly useful in caring for patients experiencing obesity, they are beneficial for all patient populations, and offer advantages beyond lifting ease.”
The entire line of HoverTech single-patient use products can be left under patients for prolonged periods without compromising skin integrity.
An Urgent Scenario
When a patient was re-admitted to the hospital the staff noticed that her skin integrity was terribly impaired. The impaired skin presented as white and chalky, with weeping eczema so extreme, it soaked through several standard absorptive pads. As transdermal fluid loss became critical, doctors considered transferring the patient to intensive care and dialysis. In the meantime, Labreche and her team were running out of options for keeping her dry.
“It was a moment where we had to think outside of the box,” Labreche remembers.
A full-sized disposable sheet happened to be nearby so that was a quick, temporary solution. After going through several disposable sheets and pads, they switched to using the HoverCover™.
Three times the size of a standard chux and capable of holding up to 6.7 liters of fluid, the HoverCover is designed for placement on top of a HoverSling® Repositioning Sheet. It can also be used on other patient handling products and surfaces, protecting skin from fluid while simultaneously keeping it cool and dry. However, the HoverCover is much more than a line of defense. It can actually help improve skin integrity. When used in combination with any HoverTech breathable product – in this case, the HoverSling – HoverCover creates a balanced, ideal microclimate that can aid in recovery of skin, promote healing, and prevent wounds.
Back to the Patient
To accommodate the patient’s size, Labreche and her team placed a HoverCover lengthwise on top of a fresh HoverSling Repositioning Sheet. They used another HoverSling to transfer the declining patient onto the clean, dry, and uniquely absorbent HoverCover surface.
While the patient continues to undergo treatment at Tampa General Hospital, her skin health has stabilized thanks in large part to the HoverCover. This product is now routinely used in her care.
A Long-Standing Relationship
Early adopters of HoverTech safe patient handling products, Tampa General Hospital cites a number of reasons for using them across units and specialties. Key among these is HoverTech’s unique ability to reduce handling-related injuries among both patients and staff. The impact of HoverTech’s HoverMatt® Single-Patient Use Air Transfer Mattress in particular has been measured and recognized at Tampa General Hospital.
“HoverMatt is a staple in our intensive care unit,” Labreche says. “It alone has helped reduce lateral transfer injuries among staff by more than 65 percent and offers high rates of staff compliance and both staff and patient satisfaction.”
HoverTech single-patient use products’ breathability is equally vital. As independent testing continues to confirm, their unique design advances healthcare’s ongoing quest to prevent costly hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI). Affecting as many as 2.5 million patients each year,[1] HAPI can take a devastating toll on patients and families – not to mention healthcare network profits. Formerly covered by Medicare and Medicaid, HAPI costs today are the responsibility of the healthcare system caring for a patient when sores present. Related treatment generally runs anywhere from $20,900 to $151,700[2]. This sobering reality is driving the growing importance of pressure injury prevention like that offered by HoverTech.
“The ability to leave HoverTech single-patient use products under patients after repositioning them creates so many benefits, including higher compliance among staff which is essential to widespread adoption and use. This goes a long way toward preventing numerous types of injuries, including pressure injuries,” Labreche says.
Free Resource Download: 5 Pressure Injury Prevention Tips
Looking to avoid bed sores and improve HAPI prevention in your clinical setting? Download HoverTech’s FREE pressure injury prevention guide and checklist.
For more information on the HoverCover™, contact HoverTech International.
[1] https://hovertechinternational.com/solutions/pressure-injury-prevention/
[2] https://hovertechinternational.com/solutions/pressure-injury-prevention/
