Use Of Restraints Amongst Nursing Home Patients Has Been Reduced More Than 50% Over The Last Decade. Is It Enough?
When you consider forms of cruel treatment, maybe you consider beds of nails or solitary confinement? However, another form of cruel treatment-- the use of restraints, is commonly used with innocent nursing home patients. At some facilities, patient restraints are a commonly used tool used by facilities in lieu of providing actual hands-on patient care by facility staff. In the past, nursing homes used physical restraints such as: bed rails, lap belts, vests, wrist ties and special chairs to assist them in literally controlling their patients. In addition to de-humanizing patients, the use of restraints was attributed to rapid physical...
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Defective Bed Parts Causing Injuries
A recent NPR radio program discusses bed rail safety in nursing homes. The increased demand for hospital beds in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice programs, and in home use has resulted in a shortage of certain bed parts. For example, mattresses may be improperly sized to the type of beds. Using improperly sized mattresses may result in gaps between the end of the mattress and the bed rails. The gaps allow patients to get wedges between the mattress and rail. The entrapment may result in suffocation, falls, lacerations or even death. Listen to the full discussion here....
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FDA Outlines Use Of Bedrails In Health Care Industry
According to the FDA, there are more than 2.5 million hospital and nursing home beds in use in the United States. Between 1985 and 2008, there were 772 incidents of where nursing home residents were caught, trapped, entangled, or strangled by bedrails. Of the above incidents, there were 460 deaths. Most of the injured individuals were elderly in weakened physical and emotional conditions. Currently, I am are representing a 77 year old woman who became entangled in a bedrail while attempting to locate the 'call button' in her room. The woman sustained a fractured ulna and radius to her arm which...
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