Equipment
How to choose the right care home bed
Caleb Harvey, care home sales manager of Accora, makes sense of the different types of bed available for care homes and offers guidance on which are most suitable for different applications
There is a huge selection of different types of bed on the market - how do I know which to use, and where? This is a common query when it comes to selecting nursing beds, and well worth answering to ensure you maximize the benefit from your investment. In broad terms, there are four main
categories of nursing bed. Although there are more complex options, especially for the acute sector, in the perspective of long-term care requirements the following are the main options.
General nursing beds These are the traditional nursing beds which lower to approximately 30-40cm. General nursing beds are often used where the risk of falling is low, for example where the level of cognitive impairment is mild or moderate. A fall from one of these beds, especially
when the bed rails are raised, would be very likely to cause injury to frailer residents. The risk of injury can still be mitigated to a certain extent by using interventions such as crash mats and bed rails, but these can cause other issues – such as trip hazards, entrapment risks, and so on.
Low beds A low bed typically lowers to 20-25cm, but tends to have a more limited lifting
General nursing beds Low beds
Floor beds
range, meaning that carers may be at risk of injury when delivering nursing care. These are becoming more common as the risk of bed fall injury becomes more apparent. However, this does not remove the risk
of fall injury, as the potential fall height is still around 35cm or more.
Floor beds Floor level beds are now fairly broadly available on the market, going down to as low as 7cm. These beds almost totally remove the risk of bed fall injury, as any fall at this height is more of a roll. A floor
With the increase of resident dependence, and the number of residents living with dementia, nursing beds are becoming an increasingly important part of providing the best levels of care for residents
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Bed for all
bed can also remove the requirement for other interventions such as bed rails and crash mats, further improving resident safety. A study published by Australian mobility and disability equipment supplier Vital Living gathered some interesting evidence to justify the use of floor beds to reduce bed fall injuries. The conclusion states the lowest height of a floor level bed should not be underestimated, as there is a 50 per cent difference in impact force by increasing the height by 5cm above baseline (10cm) to 15cm.1
Bed for all The newest types of beds are designed to provide one bed for all. These beds provide all the key functions of a nursing bed, combining the benefits of the three other types of beds. Accora’s Empresa bed has an ultra-
low height of 10cm to reduce falls risk, a full nursing height of 80cm, ‘Bodymove’ technology to improve pressure care and a capacity of up to 275kg (43st) to cater for almost every type of resident.
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • April 2021
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