Tips on Selecting a Hospital Bed

It is important to have a sophisticated hospital bed if you intend to have a patient recover at home. You could either purchase the bed or get it on rent. It would be wise to consult a healthcare professional as they will carefully evaluate the condition and needs of the patient. The decision on which bed to get also depends heavily on whether a family caregiver or a trained professional will take care of the patient.

beds come in different sizes, and with different kinds of mattresses and accessories. Furthermore, it could be electric or manual. Electric beds work great for immobile patients, but might be overkill for others. For normal patients who don't expect to remain bed-ridden for long, cheaper manual beds are a better alternative.

Size and placement of the bed - It is extremely important to measure the size of the stairways and doorways in order to determine the possible range for the size of the bed. This is to ensure that the chosen bed can be easily brought home and comfortably placed in the desired room. It would be wise to not keep the bed in a corner room so as to make the patient feel less isolated. Placing the bed in the central room easily approachable to all other rooms is a good choice. In case of an electric bed, it should be placed in proximity to an electric outlet.

Types of Mattresses - The choice of a mattress will depend upon the user's particular needs in addition to kind of bed frame used. The mattress should ideally be designed to bend with the bed's positioning. A standard bed mattress won't do so; therefore, you require a special mattress designed for Medicare beds. Inner-spring mattresses, the most common and cheapest ones, are used primarily with rental beds. A better alternative is a Foam Mattress which is not very expensive, yet provides excellent comfort. In fact, obese patients should almost always go for beds with foam mattress as against inner-spring mattress. Another variety of mattresses is an Air Mattress, an inflatable mattress. However, this should not be used for patients with problems in their spine. Lastly, there is another version in the form of Pulmonary Therapy mattress, which is useful for tetraplegic patients with weak lung function. It is specially designed to help patients with easy lateral rotation automatically.

It is recommended to have bed rails for adult patients so that they don't fall off the bed and get themselves injured further. The quality and type of hospital bed makes a significant impact on how fast a patient recovers.