A hospital bed or hospital cot is a bed specially designed for hospitalized patients or others in need of some form of health care. These beds have special features both for the comfort and well-being of the patient and for the convenience of health care workers. Common features include adjustable height for the entire bed, the head, and the feet, adjustable side rails, and electronic buttons to operate both the bed and other nearby electronic devices.
Hospital beds and other similar types of beds such as nursing care beds are used not only in hospitals, but in other health care facilities and settings, such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, outpatient clinics, and in home health care.
While the term "hospital bed" can refer to the actual bed, the term "bed" is also used to describe the amount of space in a health care facility, as the capacity for the number of patients at the facility is measured in available "beds."
There are various pros and cons for the different types of hospital beds, depending on the functions and features available, among other factors. [2]
History
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Beds with adjustable side rails first appeared in Britain some time between 1815 and 1825.[3]
In 1874 the mattress company Andrew Wuest and Son, Cincinnati, Ohio, registered a patent for a type of mattress frame with a hinged head that could be elevated, a predecessor of the modern day hospital bed.[4]
The modern 3-segment adjustable hospital bed was invented by Willis Dew Gatch, chair of the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine, in the early 20th century. This type of bed is sometimes referred to as the Gatch Bed.[3]
The modern push-button hospital bed was invented in 1945, and it originally included a built-in toilet in hopes of eliminating the bedpan.[5]
Modern features
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Hospital beds at the Hospital Regional de Apatzingán in Apatzingán, Michoacán, Mexico.Alternating pressure mattress
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Alternating pressure mattresses use computer-controlled pumps to inflate and deflate automatically in order to lower the risk of bed sores.[6]
Bed exit alarm
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Many modern hospital beds are able to feature a bed exit alarm whereby a pressure pad on or in the mattress arms an audible alert when a weight such as a patient is placed on it, and activating the full alarm once this weight is removed. This is helpful to hospital staff or caregivers monitoring any number of patients from a distance (such as a nurse's station) as the alarm will trigger in the event of a patient (especially the elderly or memory impaired) falling out of the bed or wandering off unsupervised. This alarm can be emitted solely from the bed itself or connected to the nurse call bell/light or hospital phone/paging system.[7] Also some beds can feature a multi-zone bed exit alarm which can alert the staff when the patient start moving in the bed and before the actual exit which is necessary for some cases.
CPR function
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In the event of the bed occupant suddenly requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation, some hospital beds offer a CPR function in the form of a button or lever which when activated flattens the bed platform and put it in lowest height and deflates and flattens the bed's air mattress (if installed) creating a flat hard surface necessary for CPR administration.[8]
Elevation
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Beds can be raised and lowered at the head, feet, and their entire height. While on older beds this is done with cranks usually found at the foot of the bed, on modern beds this feature is electronic.
Today, while a fully electric bed has many features that are electronic, a semi-electric bed has two motors, one to raise the head, and the other to raise the foot.[9]
Raising the head (known as a Fowler's position) can provide some benefits to the patient, the staff, or both. The Fowler's position is used for sitting the patient upright for feeding or certain other activities, or in some patients, can ease breathing, or may be beneficial to the patient for other reasons.[9]
Raising the feet can help ease movement of the patient toward the headboard and may also be necessary for certain conditions.
Raising and lowering the height of the bed can help bring the bed to a comfortable level for the patient to get in and out of bed, or for caregivers to work with the patient.
There are 5 function beds which comes with many functions such as head elevation, foot elevation, Trendelenburg, reverse Trendelenburg positions with height adjustment options.[10] These type of beds are typically used in ICUs and for patients who are high dependent.
Side rails
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Beds have side rails that can be raised or lowered. These rails, which serve as protection for the patient and sometimes can make the patient feel more secure, can also include the buttons used for their operation by staff and patients to move the bed, call the nurse, or even control the television.[11]
There are many types of side rails to serve different purposes. While some are simply to prevent patient falls, others have equipment that can aid the patient themself without physically confining the patient to bed.
Side rails, if not built properly, can be of risk for patient entrapment. In the United States, more than 300 deaths were reported as a result of this between 1985 and 2004.[12] As a result, the Food and Drug Administration has set guidelines regarding the safety of side rails.[13]
In some cases, use of the rails may require a physician's order (depending on local laws and the policies of the facility where they are used) as rails may be considered a form of medical restraint.
Specialist beds
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Many specialist hospital beds are also produced to effectively treat different injuries. These include standing beds, turning beds and legacy beds. These are usually used to treat back and spinal injuries as well as severe trauma.
Tilting
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Some advanced beds are equipped with columns which help tilt the bed to 15-30 degrees on each side. Such tilting can help prevent pressure ulcers for the patient, and help caregivers to do their daily tasks with less of a risk of back injuries.[14]
Wheels
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Wheels enable easy movement of the bed, either within parts of the facility in which they are located, or within the room. Sometimes movement of the bed a few inches to a few feet may be necessary in patient care.
Wheels are lockable. For safety, wheels can be locked when transferring the patient in or out of the bed.[15]
Disadvantages
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Cost
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A hospital bed can cost over US$1000.00; on average with different costs associated with completely manual functions, 2-motor functions and fully electric 3-motor functions (whole bed going up and down). Other costs are associated with bariatric heavy duty models that also offer extra width.[16]
Effect on health of patients
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Hospital beds can make a patient's spine more rounded because a patient who sits up a lot, such as when watching television, tends to slip down.[17] Some of the category a bed manufacturers are providing their beds with a built-in function which acts as an anti-slip. LINET is providing Ergoframe while others have different names.[18]
Safety
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During the 1980s, patient safety had been a concern with hospital beds.
In 1982, a 3-year-old Milwaukee girl hospitalized for pneumonia was killed when crushed by a mechanical hospital bed.[19]
In 1983, an 11-year-old Illinois boy was strangled to death by a hospital bed.[20]
See also
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References
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Knowing how to make a hospital bed safely and hygienically is so important in patient care. A properly-made hospital bed ensures that patients are not only comfortable and cared for, but that they are also safe from bed-related risks such as ulcer growths and cross-contamination.
Wear the proper protective gear before cleaning up hospital beds. There are all sorts of pathogens that could be harbored in those dirty linens so suit up with gloves and a mask.
Bring all the necessary tools: clean sheets, linens, laundry bags, disposable gloves, and waterproof pads if applicable.
Patients sometimes leave personal items like glasses or wallets in their beds. Make sure to remove these items and put them in a safe place before removing the dirty linens.
Carefully remove sheets, making sure you are not agitating them in the process if they are soiled. Place them in the appropriate containers.
Make sure that the center fold of the sheet is right in the middle of the bed. Secure sides by mitering if the sheets are not the fitted kind.
Make sure the center fold is in the middle of the bed and that all the sides and ends are tucked under the mattress carefully.
Make sure to follow similar hygiene and patient safety protocols and do it with a partner.
Proper bed-making is also an important part of a facility’s linen management program. When the linens are handled well and correctly between changes, facilities can more easily manage costs and minimize losses. Here are some important guidelines to remember:
. Bed linens are a hotbed for infection. Soiled linens must be handled with utmost caution and according to the
guidelines set by OSHA
to minimize any risk of cross-contamination. To make sure that your linens meet the highest industry standards for cleanliness, work with a Hygienically Clean or HLAC-accredited laundry. And most importantly, make sure to wash and sanitize hands before and after making the bed.
One of the most commonly-identified causes of linen loss is due to negligence in disposing of used sharps and other similar items. Not only do these sharps and other possibly infectious solid wastes cause damage to linens, but they are also hazardous to linen handlers. When making beds, make sure to double-check used linens for sharps before placing them in the appropriate containers.
. Hospital sheets must be wrinkle-free as gaps and
wrinkles in linens
can harbor more bacteria and other infectious pathogens. Make sure to smooth over the surface of the new sheets before getting the patient back onto the bed to avoid this.
Linen management can be a tedious job for any facility. Linens can be expensive and are vulnerable to damages and losses. Keeping inventory and quality in check while keeping the costs down can get overwhelming.
Partnering with a reliable linen service might just be the solution you need! Learning how to make a hospital bed is easy when you have the right linens on hand.
The right linen service partner can help you:
We hope you learned how to make a hospital bed safely and thoroughly! Explore the benefits and opportunities that come with the right linen service partner for your medical facility. Contact MEDtegrity today to discover our network of medical linen experts and learn more about how we can help you with your needs. Call 888-893-3334 for more information or to speak with one of our consultants.