Content area
Full Text
"THE UNPRESCRIBED WHEELCHAIR is potentially as harmful and as hazardous as the unprescribed drug. It can cause trauma, secondary deformities and disabilities, and other complications that can be irreversible."1
Every nurse who has an interest in rehabilitation and the needs of handicapped individuals should be concerned with the proper selection and prescription of wheelchairs. Few are directly involved in prescribing and fitting a wheelchair but many will be exposed to misfitting and should be able to recognize misfits, both obvious and subtle. Only the nurse who is working continuously within a setting has optimum opportunity to observe the patient's abilities and performance. Therefore, every nurse should have knowledge and understanding of the patient and his wheelchair, with the "objective of improving the independence of the physically handicapped."2
The fundamental principle of a wheelchair is to substitute moving wheels for the lower extremities - it is not just a chair on wheels for the lower extremities - it is often the sum total of a person's abilities to perform activities of daily living with any degree of independence.3
The selection of a wheelchair for a disabled person may mean the difference between happiness and unhappiness or between success and failure in living an independent life. A wheelchair which is fitted properly to a person's measurements and equipped with the correct features may mean the difference in "wanting" to be independent or "wanting" to be dependent upon someone.
Thus, a wheelchair is an extension to a person's body and life style.4 A correctly prescribed wheelchair will increase the user's ability to cope with cultural and home environment, and vocational and avocational activities.5
In essence a wheelchair can be considered a prosthesis as are dentures or eyeglasses. Who would want to wear dentures or glasses which were not correctly prescribed and fitted? By the end of the day, I am certain the reaction would be to get rid of them and go without. The same is true of a person who must live within a wheelchair. If the chair is prescribed incorrectly, the user is apt to say, "To heck with it" and depend on others for the mobility he lacks.
An improperly prescribed wheelchair will not only cause the user to become physically tired, but will cause...