Bedrails rise again?

Authors O'Keeffe, S.
Published 4th June 2013
Audience Consumers, Government/NGOs/Peaks, Industry

Falls around the bed are common in hospitals and can result in serious injury to patients and significant costs to hospitals. Some result from rolling out of bed accidentally, others from falling while or just after getting out of bed. Bedrails will prevent someone falling accidentally from bed. Bedrails will not reliably prevent someone from getting out of bed and are not designed to do so. A substantial number of patients prefer to have bedrails raised in hospital. Entrapment in spaces between or within rails or between rails and head-or footboards or mattresses is rare and can be fatal, but such accidents are mainly preventable if bed systems conform to modern dimensional guidance. Decisions regarding the use or otherwise of bedrails should be made on the basis of an individual assessment of the potential risks and benefits.

For the full article go to https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-abstract/42/4/426/10404/Bedrails-rise-again