This is a copy of the survey we administered to healthcare professionals to study the problems they encountered with bedpans and bedpan use.

Our survey consisted of 5 demographic questions:  

1) Gender – Male / Female 

2) Age – 20 – 30, 31 – 40, 41 – 50, 51 – 60, 61 – 70

3) Profession – Technician, Emergency Medicine Technician (EMT), Certified Nurse Assistant

(CNA), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Registered Nurse (RN), Physician Assistant (PA),

Medical Doctor (MD)

4) Years in Practice – 0 – 5, 6 – 10, 11 – 15, 16 – 20, 21 – 25+ 

5) Department – Emergency Department, Internal Medicine, Nursing Home,

Surgery

Using input from preliminary open-ended interviews with nursing staff, and our clinical

experience, we constructed a nine-question survey of the most common bedpan concerns. The

survey questions were: 

1) Have you or anyone you know had any issues placing a bedpan under the patient?

2) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with the bedpan contents spilling on

you?

3) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with the bedpan contents spilling on the

floor / bed?  

4) How long does it take to clean up bedpan spills? 

5) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with biohazard exposure from the

bedpan contents (i.e., urine or feces spilling on your skin or face or both)?

6) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with injuries from using the current

models of bedpans (e.g., difficulty placing bedpan under a patient resulting in back pain,

etc.)?

7) Have you or anyone you know had to take a break from working or time/days off work

or both because of injuries from using the current models of bedpans (e.g., difficulty

placing a bedpan under a heavy patient resulting in back pain etc.)?

8) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with patients being injured by the

current models of bedpans (e.g., bedpan scratching the patient when placed etc.)?

9) Have you or anyone you know had any issues with storing bedpans (not enough space

in storage, etc.)?