Many Nursing Homes & Assisted Living Facilities Continue To Threaten The Safety Of Their Patients With The Use Of Bed Rails In Their Facilities
To many, the use of bed rails on a hospital bed provides an added level of safety to prevent falls for patients who may be in a weakened physical state. While use the of bed rails may be appropriate in certain situations, research tells us that bed rails are still significantly overused and can endanger patients by allowing them to become entrapped in a gaps created between the rail and the side of the mattress. The entrapment risk can quickly kill a patient within minutes. The New York Times recently reported on potential dangers associated with the unnecessary use of...
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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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Bedrail Entrapment
Bedrails are the most common type of physical restraint used in nursing homes today. Bedrails were once only associated with confining residents to their bed. Today, new bedrail designs, have been developed in order to assist residents get into and out of bed. Even with new designs, bedrails commonly cause falls and entrapment, which may result in fractures or even death. In order to help identify potential problems with bedrails, the FDA has identified seven 'entrapment zones.' The most common reasons, residents attempt to leave their beds are as follows: Agitation Delirium Need to use bathroom Pain / discomfort Hunger /...
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