Bed down close to the floor for safety

[Alnitak7]

In one place that I worked I was impressed to see that the residents beds were cranked down as low as they would go to keep anyone from having a hard fall. I'm sure it has saved them from a lot of injuries.

I really want to know why the places that practice this are so few and far between.

I think putting the bed down low should be a regular habit. I also remember a patient who was extremely confused and restless and who fell out of bed and had to be sent out for a suspected C-spine injury.

I remember they treated this problem with medications for sleep but that was as far as it went.

I think all patients like this should automatically have the bed down low to decrease the danger they're in.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

When I worked in the hospital, it was policy for the bed to be in the lowest possible position and locked unless there was a specific reason for it be raised. This was true of all hospitals I did clinical in as well.

[Daliadreamer]

When I worked in LTC, we had special low beds for residents that were a high(er) fall risk than the others. We would also put mats down around the beds. The only problem with the beds that we had were the amount of beds available, and the side rails.

There were only two very short rails at the head of the bed, so the resident was more apt to "roll" out of bed. Even though it was only about an inch or two above the ground, if the resident was found with their legs or any part of their body on the mat, it was still considered a fall! They were much much much safer than the regular beds, however, so I couldn't complain about the safety they offered.

All beds in any hospital should always be in the lowest position possible.

[loriangel14, RN]

I work in a hospital and we have several of these beds. When in the lowest position they are about 3 inches off of the floor. if a patient tried to get out they just end up rolling onto the floor. We don't consider this a fall. Even mobile patients have difficulty getting themselves into a standing position from such a low bed.

[LifesAJourney]

With our low beds, they consider it a "roll" instead too.

[JDZ344]

Ours do go down to 10cm off the ground. We normally leave them at normal bed height, unless the patient is a very high falls risk.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Every hospital I have worked in had this policy in place. We even chart on our hourly rounds that the beds are low.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

We even took the bed out of the room, and let the patient sleep on the mattress directly on the floor, once. This was someone who was in major DT's, and the wife refused to let us restrain him. Chemical restraints didn't work, he was so bad.

[amoLucia]

When I worked in the hospital, it was policy for the bed to be in the lowest possible position and locked unless there was a specific reason for it be raised. This was true of all hospitals I did clinical in as well.

Where I've worked in hospitals and LTC, this has been the SOP (standard operating procedure). It's also an intervention on care plans for 'at risk for falling'. Any deviance could result in disciplinary action if a fall occurred. As supervisor, I would monitor for low beds as part of my rounds. Raise the bed as comfortable for yourself when doing care, then LOWER IT!

I can't think of any reason to keep a bed up off the floor except maybe a few inches to keep the pleurovac off the floor. (Do they still use them?)

Usually a question on incidents reports asks "Was bed in lowest position?" Along with the usual questions re: siderails and call bells.

[brownbook]

It is SOP to always have the bed in its lowest position. Maybe these are beds that do not go down very low?

Any patient, anytime, can fall out of bed. Where I currently work we use gurney's for short procedures, but the lowest position is probably 2 1/2 feet. Some gurneys are even higher (at their lowest) and short patients need a step stool to get into them!

[amygarside]

low beds are good for patients however for doctors and nurses I think it would be hard to check on the patient..

[jamd11]

All 70 residents in the LTC facility I work in have hi-lo beds. If they are at risk for falling they also have crash pads, bed alarms, and/or padded bed rails. But every resident falls risk or not has their bed in the lowest position possible every time they are laying in it.