Patient Bed Safety - Research Paper Example

The negligence behind this case was simply that a resident with multi-infarct demetia tangled in her bedrail and died of asphyxiation. (Bryant v. Oakpointe Villa Nursing Centre). A nursing home is liable for accidents to residents on its property, even if, as in the case of Bryant v. Oakpointe Villa Nursing Centre, previous steps have been taken to protect them. They must provide all residents with the reasonable care that their condition requires (Smith, 2005). Oak pointe Nursing Centre was liable for the death of their resident because they failed to provide her with safe sleeping arrangements. (Bryant v. Oakpoint Villa Nursing Centre).

Bed rails have been known for several years to actually increase the risk to confused or uncontrolled movement patients, because add the obvious asphyxiation risk above as well as increase the height of falls if a resident does manage to climb over them. Between 1985 and 2009, 480 patients have been reported as dying and 138 were seriously injured due to a hospital bed accident. From a strictly administrative standpoint, that represents 518 possible lawsuits. In 2006, the FDA published “Hospital Bed System Dimensional and Assessment Guidance to Reduce Entrapment”, encouraging manufacturers and care facilities to reconsider the design of their beds (FDA, 2009). Despite this, they are still in place for at least 10% of patients (Span, 2010).

The Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990 requires the reporting of all accidents involving hospital equipment, including beds and bed rails. (Sleep Safe, 2010). And, as previously mentioned, nursing homes and hospitals are held liable for failure to use the safest equipment possible for their residents and patients (Smith, 2005).
Therefore, I propose replacing any beds still in use with bedrails, not just for geriatric patients, but for all hospital care patients. Bed rails cannot be used as a replacement for or a stand-alone as restraints for patients at high risk for wandering or injury, nor should they be used in place of frequent monitoring of patients requiring sleep restraints (Sleep Safe, 2010). For this reason, it seems that the use of bed rails becomes a higher liability than a benefit to the facility. The safer beds may be used as replacements when the older-style beds reach the end of their useful life, meaning the costs to the facility of these replacements will be minimal.

Replacing the beds will help the facility comply with the FDA requirements both to reduce the usage of unnecessary sleep restraints and to provide the safest possible environment for hospital patients and nursing home residents. Read More