How to transfer a patient from bed to chair
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Plan the transfer and use the patient's strong side.
Step by step
Assess and plan
Strength, balance, weight, help needed, equipment. [1]
Set up
Chair at about 45 degrees on the strong side, brakes locked, bed low. [1]
Sit and dangle
Sit on the edge for a moment; check dizziness. [1]
Gait belt
Snug around the waist; non-slip footwear. [1]
Stand and pivot
On a count, stand, pivot on the strong leg, reach for the armrest, sit slowly. [1]
Make safe
Position, call light in reach. [1]
Common errors
- Brakes off.
- Skipping dangling.
- Lifting under the arms.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Fall risk at home, older adult
- Parkinson disease, home safety
- Intimate partner violence in pregnancy
- Neonatal jaundice
- Bleeding after prostatectomy
- Ischemic stroke
34 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Open RN, Nursing Fundamentals 2e (CC BY 4.0)
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference)
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.