Choosing the right hospital bed is essential for ensuring patient comfort, safety, and well-being. With the wide range of options available, including manual, semi-electric, and fully electric beds, as well as various features and accessories, navigating through the choices can be time consuming.
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This guide will discuss important considerations such as safety features, ease of maintenance, and compatibility with other medical equipment as well as explore the different types hospital beds, their features, and benefits.
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For this guide, we have used the term &#;hospital bed&#; to describe the beds used for patient care. However, it is important to keep in mind that these beds can, and are, used in a variety of healthcare settings including long term care, mental health facilities, or ambulatory surgical centers.
Important Factors to Consider When Choosing a Hospital Bed
To ensure hospital beds meet the needs of both patients and caregivers effectively there are several factors that should be considered.
These include:
Bed Type: Consider whether a manual, semi-electric, or fully electric bed is most suitable for the intended use. Each type offers varying levels of adjustability and ease of use. Selecting the right type of hospital bed based on patient mobility and caregiver preference is important to ensuring the safety of both as well as the comfort of the patient.
Patient Needs: Assess the mobility limitations, medical conditions, and comfort requirements of the facility&#;s expected patient population. Choose hospital beds that offer the proper support, positioning options, and pressure relief for a wide range of patients and conditions.
Safety Features: Prioritize hospital beds equipped with features such as side rails, brake systems, and emergency controls. These features help prevent patient falls or other injuries.
Ease of Use: Hospital beds should be easy to operate for both patients and caregivers. Look for intuitive control mechanisms, accessible adjustment settings, and user-friendly features that simplify bed positioning, height adjustment, and other functions.
Durability and Quality: Invest in hospital beds constructed to accommodate a range of weight capacities as well as durable materials that can withstand frequent use and cleaning.
Compatibility with Accessories: Evaluate the hospital bed&#;s compatibility with accessories and equipment such as IV poles, overbed tables, and patient lifts.
Maintenance Requirements: Choose hospital beds with accessible components, removable parts, and easy to clean surfaces to facilitate sanitizing cleaning, maintenance, and service when needed.
Regulatory Compliance: Verify the hospital bed complies with relevant safety standards, regulations, and certifications set by regulatory bodies such as the Joint Commission.
Budget Considerations: Balance cost considerations with the quality and features best suited to the needs of the facility.
Careful consideration of these factors and conducting research to make informed decisions about the types of hospital beds available in the market can contribute to patient comfort, staff and patient safety, and higher levels of care.
Types of Hospital Beds
Hospital beds are available in several types, each offering different levels of adjustability, functionality, and features to accommodate the diverse needs of patients and caregivers.
Common types of hospital beds include:
Manual Hospital beds: Manual hospital beds use hand cranks or levers to adjust the bed&#;s height, as well as the head and foot positions. These beds are typically more affordable and suitable for patients who do not require frequent position changes.
Semi-Electric Hospital Bed: Semi-electric hospital beds feature electric controls for adjusting the bed&#;s height, while manual mechanisms are used to adjust the position of the head and foot. These beds offer greater convenience and ease of use compared to manual beds but do require some manual adjustment by healthcare professionals.
Fully Electric Hospital Bed: Fully electric beds offer effortless positioning with electric controls to adjust the height of the bed as well as the head and foot positions. These beds are ideal for patients who require frequent adjustment to safeguard their comfort as well as for easing the physical strain on the medical staff tending to patients.
Low Hospital Beds: With a lower height profile these hospital beds help reduce the risk of falls or injury to patients with mobility limitations. They are ideal for geriatric or extended care settings where the risk of falls is higher.
Bariatric Hospital Bed: Bariatric hospital beds are engineered to accommodate higher weight capacities with reinforced frames and wider mattresses to support larger patients safely and comfortably.
Pediatric Hospital Beds: Tailored to the unique needs of children, pediatric hospital beds feature smaller dimensions, colorful designs, and features adapted for smaller patients. These beds help ensure the safety of the smallest of patients.
Specialty Hospital Beds: Specialty hospital beds incorporate advanced features such as air mattresses, lateral rotation, Trendelenburg positioning, and pressure relief systems. These beds cater to specific medial needs such as intensive care, critical care, maternity, and wound care.
Understanding the distinct types of hospital beds and their respective feature gives healthcare providers and professionals the knowledge to select beds that best serve the comfort and safety needs of their patient populations as well as the physical wellbeing of the medical staff caring for the patients.
Partnering with equipment distributors with hospital bed expertise is essential to assuring the highest quality bed, equipped with the features you need, for your budget.
Shop CME for a comprehensive selection of hospital beds
Partner with CME for Hospital Beds
As a nationally recognized medical equipment distributor and the only one focused solely on medical equipment, CME has built relationships with industry leading hospital bed manufacturers in the United States.
Our expert account managers will work with you and the manufacturers&#; representatives to ensure that you are purchasing the best hospital beds for your facility, at the best price for your budget.
Complementing CME&#;s focus on medical equipment are order management, direct-to-site delivery, and biomedical services. We are the only medical equipment distributor nationwide able to say we are truly a one-stop-shop.
Order Management Services
Working with administrators and procurement professionals, our single point of contact order management team can take the some of the stress out of purchasing hospital beds by working with manufacturers to ensure delivery dates are met and any issue that arise are resolved.
Direct-To-Site Logistics and Delivery Services
In addition to delivering medical equipment fully assembled when it is convenient for staff and clients, CME Direct-to-Site services can help take the stress out of large orders by receiving, inspecting and warehousing the order(s) for a single delivery. Our Direct-to-Site teams will deliver assembled hospital beds to their location in the facility and remove all packing debris, so the equipment is ready for immediate use.
Biomedical Services
Biomedical services have been at the heart of CME for over forty-five years. We are the only medical equipment distributor nationwide with an in-house team of biomedical technicians available to perform asset tagging, asset validation, hospital bed check-in, preventative maintenance, and repair.
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About CME: CME Corp is the nation&#;s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers. With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule.
There are many different types of hospital beds. From those utilized in the ICU to those preferred for homecare, choosing the best hospital bed for your needs can be overwhelming. However, when choosing a type of hospital bed, it is important to consider all possible qualities that they offer.
Hospital Bed Qualities
Manual vs. Electric
Manual beds are precisely as they sound; they can be adjusted up and down, but these adjustments must be done manually. While this doesn&#;t usually impact the patient, it does create more strain on the caregiver. However, manual beds are cheaper than their electric counterparts.
Electric beds can either be semi-electric or full-electric. Semi-electric beds have their height adjusted by a remote but changing the head and feet positions is still completed manually. With a full-electric bed, all adjustments are done through a remote. As expected, the more adjustments done with a remote, the higher the cost of the bed.
Bed Size
A standard-sized hospital bed has dimensions of 80 inches by 36 inches, but beds can be both longer and wider. Dimensions of the preferred bed will depend on the dimensions of the patient. There are also some beds, termed bariatric beds, that can handle higher weights.
Bed Accessories
In some cases, the hospital bed consists only of the bed frame, on which can be placed whatever mattress the patient or facility wants and needs. Some beds may also come with bed rails, which are an important accessory for patients at risk of falling out of bed.
Some beds include safety alarms that sound if the bed is empty. Additional beds may be lower to the ground, making it easier for the patients to get into and out of bed, preventing any serious falls and injuries. Some beds even come with a &#;CPR mode,&#; which puts the bed into a horizontal position with just the touch of a button, making it easier for hospital workers and caregivers to provide resuscitation.
Hospital Bed Locations
Below are different locations where a hospital bed is used. What bed is best depends on the needs of each site and its patients.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
The ICU is the section of the hospital where patients are placed when they are seriously ill. Because of this, ICU beds require different specifications than beds in other medical areas. Beds in the ICU also benefit the most from specific criteria and additions to their beds, whereas beds in other locations do not require as much.
First and foremost, a bed in the ICU needs to be electric, making it easier for the patient, their family, and medical personnel to get them in a comfortable position, whether sleeping or eating. ICU beds should also have &#;CPR mode&#; since these patients are typically most likely to require resuscitation in an emergency.
It is also recommended that ICU beds have a built-in IV pole with hooks. It is common for patients in the ICU to require an IV for some type of fluid. In the case of an emergency, it can be challenging to transport both the bed and the IV pole separately, especially while the patient is still connected to their IV. This is where a bed with a built-in IV pole becomes beneficial and helps to reduce the risk of damaging the IV supply or injuring anyone in the transport process.
Yet another beneficial component of ICU beds is removable head and footboards, and this quality has two benefits. The first benefit is that, in an emergency, the headboard can be removed, allowing the medical personnel to stand behind the patient. This enables more people to work around the patient, and it is also beneficial if the patient needs support breathing because it gives the staff better access to the head.
The other advantage to removable head and footboards is that it is easier to perform prone positioning, which is the rotation of the patient from a face up to a face-down position. This position helps to improve external respiration and prevents acute respiratory distress syndrome in critical care patients.
General
The best kind of general hospital bed will be similar to an ICU bed, but it likely does not need as many accessories. Since general beds can still be wheeled throughout the hospital, it is still beneficial to have side rails and an attached IV pole with hooks.
Many general hospital beds are also electric since it makes it easier for the patient to find a comfortable position and helps nurses and other medical staff adjust the bed when needed.
Emergency Room
In most cases, beds used in the emergency room are similar to those used generally throughout the hospital, but with a few more accessories.
Since emergency room beds are often wheeled throughout the hospital, whether for testing or for surgery, side rails and an attached IV pole with hooks are very important. Similar to ICU beds, it is also beneficial for emergency room beds to have a &#;CPR mode&#; since patients in the emergency room may need resuscitation.
Homecare
Choosing the best homecare bed will truly depend on the patient and their needs. Whether or not to use a manual or electric bed will depend on if the patient will spend a lot of time in the bed (in which case an electric bed would be best) or if they will only be using the bed for sleeping and lounging.
The best homecare bed will also depend on the physical limitations of the patient&#;s caregiver and if they can handle manually changing the bed. The patient&#;s budget must also be considered as an electric bed is more expensive.
Additional decisions can include an IV pole with a hook if the patient is connected to IVs and &#;CPR mode&#; if the patient has a condition where they might need CPR.
Summary
When choosing the best hospital bed for a specific situation, there are many things to consider. Electric vs. manual, bed dimensions, and accessories are just some of the many variables in hospital beds. The best hospital bed for each situation will depend not only on what commonly happens in each area but also on the needs of the patients using the bed.
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