What Are The Vital Functions Of Electric Hospital Beds?
When you or a loved one has to stay in the hospital, the bed they lie in is much more than just a place to sleep. Modern electric hospital beds are highly functional medical devices designed to provide comfort, safety, and assist with care for patients. But what exactly do all those buttons, rails, and moving parts do? Let’s explore the vital functions of these innovative beds.
Positioning for Comfort and Care
One of the primary functions of an electric hospital bed is positioning. With the push of a button, the bed can be raised, lowered, or articulated into different configurations to optimize the patient’s comfort and positioning for medical care. The head of the bed can be raised to make eating, reading, or watching TV more comfortable. The knees can be raised to reduce strain on the lower back. And the entire bed surface can be raised or lowered to a height that is ideal for caregiving staff to safely transfer or reposition the patient.
Preventing Pressure Injuries
Prolonged immobility puts patients at risk of developing painful pressure injuries or bedsores. Electric beds are designed to help mitigate this risk through features like low air loss mattresses that relieve pressure, alternating pressure mattresses that continuously redistribute weight, and the ability to reposition the patient frequently through the powered adjustments. Some advanced electric beds even have weight-sensing capabilities to automatically redistribute pressure.
Fall Prevention and Safety
In a hospital setting, preventing patient falls is of utmost importance for safety. Electric beds have assisted safety features like dual-locking bed exit alarms to alert staff when a patient is attempting to get up unassisted. The adjustable bed heights also make transfers safer. Lowering the bed enables patients to get in and out with less distance to the floor. And raising the bed to a suitable working height protects caregivers from injury during patient handling tasks.
Managing Patient Mobility
Electric hospital beds play a key role in mobilizing patients as part of their care and recovery process. The adjustable positioning helps get patients upright and weight-bearing as appropriate. Attachable trapeze bars provide support grips to assist with repositioning. And some beds come equipped with special mobilization functions like powered chairs to make upright mobility easier from the bed itself.
Additional Features for Care
Beyond positioning and mobility, many electric hospital beds have additional handy features to improve care. Overbed table surfaces provide a stable workspace for laptops, meals, or medical equipment. Lockable casters enable easy room transfers. Onboard scale systems allow for accurate in-bed weighing. Extensive built-in technology like nurse call integration and EMR documentation capabilities streamline workflows. From advanced surface technologies to cutting-edge connectivity, these beds offer an array of tools to enhance patient care.
As you can see, the modern electric hospital bed is an incredibly functional piece of medical equipment packed with innovative design elements aimed at optimizing patient experience, caregiver safety, and overall care quality. The next time you or a family member is recovering in a hospital, be sure to explore and appreciate all the vital roles this piece of technology plays. It’s so much more than just a bed!
