Stacey Taylor, marketing manager at wissner bosserhoff, explains why the careful consideration of the application of low floor beds across care facilities is so important
An ultra-low floor bed is being used as a solution by many care facilities across the UK to help minimise the risk of injuries to individuals at risk of falls. This is achieved by allowing the carer to position the bed very near the floor, sometimes with a safety mat also positioned next to the bed with the aim of reducing injury if a roll-out was to occur. However, you should beware of basing your overall purchasing decisions on how to get your care bed to the lowest possible floor height. Lower does not always mean safer! There are other concerns that should not be overlooked, and instead should be very carefully considered for any individual who is being considered for a floor bed.
The overlooked challenges of a floor bed at nursing height
To allow the bed to get as low as possible, many ultra-low floor beds have certain limitations to their design; one very important aspect being that they do not usually have any side rails for additional protection. This means that a resident would need two members of staff on hand to carry out duties such as personal care when the bed is raised to the nursing height position. This is the only way to guarantee safety and minimise the risk of someone being able to roll out of bed on the other side. At a time when care staff resource is more stretched than ever, this is not always going to be a practical solution. The only way to minimise the risk further would be for the bed to be positioned against a wall, but again, this compromise will have implications on administering care and will reduce easy access to the resident from the other side of the bed, which again impacts on staff care duties.
The risk of unintended injury
Having the bed sit as low to the floor as possible will still pose a risk and will not eliminate the risk of injury where individuals may still attempt to get up from the floor position – presenting them with an even greater challenge.
An example of this circumstance may be where you have individuals who have a poor understanding of their own functional levels and may still look to make attempts to get up from the bed but not have the strength or ability to get up into a standing position safely
Moreover, residents with low risk awareness may attempt to grab onto other objects nearby - such as bedside tables, chairs, or wardrobes - for lifting support. All of these scenarios can present an even greater risk of a resident suffering injury and potentially adds yet more risk objects from the other pieces of furniture or items in the room that could potentially be pulled over on top of them.
Maintaining dignity and independence
In the same way that the use of side guards on a nursing bed would always need to comply with freedom-depriving measure (FDM) regulations, the same theory could be applied to lowering someone down to the floor where it then makes it difficult for them to orientate or mobilise with ease or without feeling restricted. Another common design feature on many floor beds is that they can have a very high head and footboard, which can obstruct surrounding viewpoints and make a resident feel more enclosed in the bed. From a dignity perspective, having good special awareness and also sight of other people who may enter or be navigating the room when they are in the floor position would make a resident a lot less anxious.
Although there is a place for the floor bed solution for the right individual circumstance, this should be just that - a unique circumstance for that person’s specific care needs, where all the above risks have been accounted for - and should not be assumed to be the safest solution to have in place to cover all eventualities and all residents within the facility wissner bosserhoff strongly believes that the focus should be on preventing falls in the first place, not just managing how someone will fall. Which is why we design and manufacture our solutions with this in mind. Our universal low care bed Sentida SC has been carefully designed with these important considerations taken into account:
- Reducing the risk of unintended injury – by using SafeFree® in the orientation position, we eliminate the involuntary exiting of the bed as well as supporting safety in combination with the low 23cm sleeping position. If the resident were to attempt to leave the bed, the side rails will act as a safe mobilization aid.
- SafeFree® Fixed and Flexible side rails to adapt to different care needs – the Sentida SC bed has the option of four split side rails which can be used in combination with a wide range of configuration options as a fixed or flexible variant, with partial or full protection choices – supporting residents at risk of falls and allowing decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis. This means the resident is unlikely to roll out of bed but can still have a safe exit and the support they may need should they decide to get out for any reason.
- Making light work of care duties, whatever the bed height – with the 3-stop strategy for needs-based care, we can guarantee optimum and safe access to the resident at all times and whatever the resting position of the bed. The 3-stop strategy has an optimal nursing position, safe mobilization position, and a position for falls prevention during sleep phases.
- Improved dignity, independence, and spatial awareness – the Sentida SC has been designed to offer an array of choice when it comes to how the bed looks and feels. With your choice of headboard and footboard, including low footboard options, you can be sure that the bed has good spatial awareness so the resident can see what is going on around them, along with the peace of mind that the bed complies with all FDM regulations while promoting safe sleep without restricting personal needs and promoting individual mobility
Our aim is to provide solution-oriented support for maintaining and promoting individual mobility as an overarching and essential goal in nursing care. The safety of the residents and the care staff is our ongoing focus. Through our many years of experience and by working in close collaboration with our customers, wissner bosserhoff knows what it takes to achieve this.
To find out more visit: https://www.wi-bo. com/en-WI/nursing-care/beds/universalbeds/sentida-sc
Stacey Taylor
Stacey Taylor is the marketing manager for wissner bosserhoff in the UK. Stacey has been working in the industry for the last eight years and in this time has become passionate about working with manufacturers to help those living with health and mobility challenges. Stacey loves to collaborate with others in the industry and keep up-to-date with key topics shaping the sector. wissner bosserhoff is part of the LINET Group, a leading global manufacturer of premium hospital and nursing beds using long history, experience, technology, and innovation to help improve the quality of care
