let's talk about the Fowler's position so there are about four of them and the name of these positions comes from a surgeon so with these positions it's all about the angle of the head of the bed so make sure you're paying attention to those angles because that's where you're going to be tested at so with this your patient is going to be in the bed they're going to be lying on their back and their knees can be flexed or extended and again what we're paying attention to is the head of the bed that angle so first we have low fowers and with low fers that head of the bed is about 15 to 30° so it's almost supine but they have a little slight elevation to it then we have semi fowers and semi fowers is higher than low fowers low fers is the lowest of all of them but with semi the head of the bed is at an angle of 30 to 45° now it's important to note that some sources will actually just group low fers and semi fallers together and just say semi hour ahead of the bed at 30 up to 30° so just keep that in mind while you're studying now these positions are used for sleeping especially they're beneficial for patients who have breathing problems like heart failure because there's so much fluid backing up putting pressure on the heart and the lung it actually makes it easier for the patient to breathe at an angle when they're resting it can also be beneficial during that postop period to prevent upper body swelling if surgery was let's say on this neck it helps decrease the swelling and when we're talking about that 30° position we want a patient at at least 30° if they have increased intracranial pressure because this head of the bed elevation is going to help decrease that intracranial pressure and maintain profusion to the brain and then when we're talking about the 30 to 45° angle it's beneficial in patients who are getting GI feedings those interal feedings because it can help prevent aspirations so you know sometimes there's a sign on the bed or you have these protocols that say if a patient is getting a tube feeding their head of the bed cannot go any lower than like 30 or 45° plus if the patient needs suctioning this is a good position and if they're a critical care patient because they're at risk for aspiration and we want to prevent ventilator Associated pneumonia and problems associated with these Fowler positions would be pressure injuries like pressure injuries to the sacral area the coxic area shoulder spine and heels and then next we have the fowers position and with this it's just called fowers position there's no low semi or high in front of it and this is where the patient head the bed is between 45 to 60° so they're resting on their back their knees could be Flex or extended so it's a lot like low and semi fowers but the head of the bed is just a little bit higher and this position is used for many of the same things that low and semi valers was used for like eating and drinking and E easing breathing with certain respiratory problems plus the problems associated with this position are the same as what it was for low and semi and then lastly we have high fowers position and this is the highest position of all the fowers positions with that head of the bed being at about a 60 to 90° angle so the patient is setting straight up in the bed as you can see here now with this position has the same usages as the other fowers positions but it's very helpful for naso gast tube insertion and if your patient is experiencing autonomic dis reflexia now this only happens in patients who have a spinal cord injury at T6 or higher and when a patient is experiencing this condition you want to put them up at 90° because this is going to drop their blood pressure and if you forgot what autonomic dysreflexia is I have a whole comprehensive review that can help you review this now with this position there's a risk for pressure injuries because you have your patient setting straight up in bed so there's a lot of pressure being placed on that bottom so there's a risk of pressure injuries to that sacral and coxic area the shoulders the spine and the heels okay so that wraps up this video and don't forget to check out the other videos in this series