Conflicting Benefits and Hazards of Hospital-Style Bed Rails

Hignett, Sue

doi:10.1201/ebk1439834978-c6

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Only two of the randomly selected residents at one low care RACF (F7) used a bedstick/pole. However, as can be seen in Table 2 , bed side-rails, which have also been associated with patient safety issues such as entrapment and falls ( Hignett and Masud, 2006 ; Capezuti et al, 2008 ; Hignett, 2010 ), were fitted to a majority of beds at high care and high care/low care facilities.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing aged care environments to promote resident functional mobility and reduce staff injury risk

Coman

Caponecchia

2023

Front. Aging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the suitability and usability of the Pro-Mobility patient/person handling assessment tool (ProMob) within residential aged care. Physiological changes associated with ageing influence an older person’s ability to perform functional mobility tasks such as transferring from furniture and walking. Strategies that improve capability and/or reduce the physical demands of the task have the potential to promote an older person’s mobility, independence and wellbeing. Environment-related strategies in Manual Handling of People (MHP), such as optimum seated heights, in part address this challenge, as they can promote resident functional mobility while also protecting staff from injury. The ProMob tool was developed to address this issue through systematic evaluation of these environmental factors.Methods: The participants in this study were seven (7) residential aged care facilities (RACFs) operated by a not-for-profit aged care organization. A qualified assessor evaluated MHP risk management with the ProMob tool at each RACF through collection of data for a random sample of residents (n = 67) regarding their living environments and available mobility information. Data was transferred to an SPSS-22 statistical software database for analysis which involved descriptive statistics and cross tabulations.Results: Application of the ProMob tool provided effective quantification of the nature and extent of environment-related MHP interventions that may influence resident mobility. Areas for improvement with MHP risk management were identified, with variation evident across RACF’s within the same organisation, which was not consistent with levels of care (e.g., lack of clear space to facilitate mobility). Low level care facilities were observed to have fewer adaptive environmental features that could potentially slow decline in independence.Discussion: Features of the aged care environment can be used to facilitate the functional mobility of aged care residents, and simultaneously reduce injury risk for staff in MHP interactions. The ProMob tool can be used for auditing care facilities, planning re-development, and continual improvement in provision of care and management of staff injury risk exposure.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing aged care environments to promote resident functional mobility and reduce staff injury risk

Coman

Caponecchia

2023

Front. Aging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The use of rails to prevent wandering is inappropriate and ineffective [23] but is reported in previous studies [14,24]. These reasons illustrate the risk averse culture [3,11] and a care dichotomy in the care of older people between ensuring the safety and maintaining independence and freedom (including taking risks) [25]. It would be preferable for the use of rails to be a shared decision between staff and patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This resulted in a divergence of design/configuration of rails with bed controls incorporated into rails in the USA but designed as a cable-pendant or flexible arm panels in the UK [3]. Rails have a range of functions including safety in transit, comfort and security, a physical barrier and reminder of the bed perimeters, and supporting mobility [4,5] for turning and repositioning [6] and transferring in/out of the bed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which bed designs and patient characteristics increase bed rail use?

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: the design and use of bed rails has been contentious since the 1950s with benefits including safety, mobility support and access to bed controls and disadvantages associated with entrapment and restraint. Objective: to explore which bed designs and patient characteristics (mobility, cognitive status and age) influence the likelihood of rails being used on UK medical wards. Method: the use of rails was surveyed overnight at 18 hospitals between July 2010 and February 2011.Results: data were collected on 2,219 beds with 1,799 included (occupied). Eighty-six percent had rails attached; 52% had raised rails (42% had all raised). Adjusted logistic regression results suggest a significantly increased likelihood of rail use for (i) electric profiling beds and ultra low beds; (ii) >80 years; (iii) described as having any level of confusion or mobility impairment. These variables together explained 55% of the variance in rail use. The most frequently mentioned reason for raising rails was 'to prevent falls from the bed' (61%) especially for patients described as confused (75%). Conclusion: there were indications that rails were being used inappropriately (as a restraint) for both confused patients and those needing assistance to mobilise.

show abstract

“…[NPSA, 2007] Using medical metal bed rails had collective benefits and weighed against the risks for elderly. [Hignett, S. 2010]. Using medical metal side rails reduced dramatically from almost patients to around 13%.…”

Section: -Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety design of side rails for metal medical beds

Almandrawy

2015

International Design Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conflicting Benefits and Hazards of Hospital-Style Bed Rails

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

Optimizing aged care environments to promote resident functional mobility and reduce staff injury risk

Optimizing aged care environments to promote resident functional mobility and reduce staff injury risk

Which bed designs and patient characteristics increase bed rail use?

Safety design of side rails for metal medical beds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About