Bed Rails Pose Significant Safety Hazards To Nursing Home Residents
In an interesting article in today's New York Times, Paula Span, writes on the dangers bed rails pose to nursing home residents. Although many people, including Ms. Span, believe bed rails keep nursing home residents safe, actually, the opposite is true.
According to geriatrician and bioethicist Steven Miles of the University of Minnesota: Although side rails"decrease your risk of falling by 10 to 15 percent...they {actually] increase the risk of injury by about 20 percent." This is so because confused or residents with dementia, who try to climb over the rails, are apt to fall farther and strike their heads if side rails are in use. A greater risk than falls, however, is "entrapment." This occurs where patients get stuck within the rails or between the rail and the mattress. Mr. Miles has some advice for those of you looking for a quality and safe nursing home: “Count off 10 beds. See how many have rails in use. If more than one or two in 10 beds have rails up, walk out of the facility.”
