Hospital Beds


In providing care for rehabilitation, treatment, and other hospital services, a hospital bed can provide a useful ally in comfort, accessibility, and ease. Hospital beds can be found, obviously, in hospitals and other care facilities, but can also be rented or leased for home use.

Types of Hospital Beds

There are several different types of hospital beds, with a variety of components and abilities, including kinetic movement beds, circle beds, moving frames, and many others all designed to care for patients with a variety of ailments and needs.

Components of Hospital Beds

Hospital beds can be positioned and adjusted as needed, and even programmed to move from side to side, so the proper patient restraint systems and design feature training is an integral part of patient safety when utilizing hospital beds. At times, other accessories such as traction equipment and other support mechanisms are used in conjunction with the bed to provide extra stabilization or support, and caregivers should pay special attention to how these accessories interact with the bed. The simplest and most common component to hospital beds are the bed rails, which provide safety during transportation and can prevent a patient from rolling out of bed while sleeping. Bed rails are adjustable to facilitate movement to and from the bed.

Maintenance of Hospital Beds and Injury Prevention

Because hospital beds are the main residing areas for patients, most injuries can be sustained from their improper use or adjustments, especially in cases where patients must be immobilized or have restricted movement due to burns or spinal injuries. Accidents and injuries directly related to hospital bed use can be reduced through the proper maintenance and upkeep of the bed, as well as comprehensive training and supervision of those operating beds with special features, accessories, or moving components. Sometimes, there are mechanical or technical failures that could have been prevented which can result in increased or exacerbated injury, strangulation, or crushing, even in general care hospital beds where the only extra components are bed rails.

If a bed has been rented or leased for home use, be sure to inspect all components before patient use, as damages or the loosening of fasteners and other mechanisms may have occurred during delivery. These types of inspections, including mechanical and electrical integrity tests, can reduce the instance of injury, and should be performed throughout patient care in order to insure diligence in injury prevention. However, before the initial instillation of a patient in any home care situation, it is wise to have a professional do the first inspection in order to learn the correct steps in maintenance.

By Barbara Poelle           


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