Nurse-led Medical Product Innovation: Redesigning the Bedpan for Comfort and Usability 

Presenter

Jules Ochacher

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Karen K. Giuliano, Department of Nursing, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board C19, Poster Showcase Room (163), Row 2 (C11-C20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Introduction: An innovated “Gotta Go” bedpan was developed in the Spring of 2022 by a group of engineering students with input from nurses and nursing students at UMass Amherst. This research aims to compare product usability between the traditional bedpan and “Gotta Go” bedpan by using the NASA-TLX, the Borg Scale (BPE), the bedpan user preference scale and to compare the patient comfort between “Gotta Go” bedpan and the traditional bedpan as measured by the patient comfort scale. 

Background: Bedpans are used as receptacle containers to collect urine and stool when patients are confined to bed. Bedpans are physically uncomfortable for users and can cause psychological distress. The bedpan is can also be difficult for nurses to use, and spillage and contamination are common during bedpan use. 

Methods: Volunteer user-patient dyads took turns placing one another on the “Gotta Go” bedpan and the traditional for a total of three minutes on each bedpan. After using both bedpans, both nurse and patient participants complete the surveys on their experience.   

Results: Participants preferred the “Gotta Go” bedpan for its “comfortable material”, “slimmer” design and features like “the splash guard” which “made the task easier”. The NASA-TLX revealed the “Gotta Go” bedpan shows decreased emotional and physical demand in some categories but is not sufficient to deem statistically significant results. The patient comfort scale indicates the “Gotta Go” bedpan is preferred to the traditional bedpan with a statistical significance <0.05. The user preference survey also indicated significant preference (p < 0.05) of the “Gotta Go” bedpan.

Keywords

Bedpan, Medical product design, Medical product testing

Research Area

Nursing

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