Which roommate would be most suitable for the 6-year-old male with a fractured femur in Russell’s traction?
A. 16-year-old female with scoliosis
B. 12-year-old male with a fractured femur
C. 10-year-old male with sarcoma
D. 6-year-old male with osteomyelitis
Correct Answer: B. 12-year-old male with a fractured femur
The 6-year-old should have a roommate as close to the same age as possible, so the 12-year-old is the best match. A bed is available and the patient gets assigned. There are certain constraints—sex, semi-private versus private, isolation issues, acuity, telemetry and specialty needs. All need to be taken into account to ensure that each patient goes to the right place and receives the proper care. But good capacity management demands that bed assignment be carefully considered and executed.
Option A: The client is too old and is female. Bed assignment simply provides the proper location based on specific patient attributes like sex, isolation, telemetry, acuity, and specialty needs.
Option C: The 10-year-old with sarcoma has cancer and will be treated with chemotherapy that makes him immune suppressed. Bed managers aim at finding an assignment of patients to rooms that strikes a balance between patients’ preferences and comfort on the one hand, and patients’ clinical conditions and the resulting required room facilities on the other.
Option D: The 6-year-old with osteomyelitis is infectious. Rooms and beds belong to the critical assets of just any hospital. They account for a considerable part of a hospital’s infrastructure, and a large amount of financial resources are invested in equipping them with medical apparatus to facilitate patient care. Furthermore, they also represent the place where most patients will spend a large part of their stay, as they recover from surgery, wait for examinations to take place, etc.