There are many factors to think about when it comes to buying a hospital bed for home use.
These five tips will help you assess the different hospital beds available to make the choice that is right for the patient.
Invest in the Mattress
When you’re buying a hospital bed, it pays off to invest most of your money into the mattress, not the frame.
While having a frame that allows for position adjustments and easy patient repositioning is convenient, the mattress itself can make a sizable contribution to the patient’s overall comfort and health.
If a patient is spending most of their time in bed, it may be worth investing in a higher-end mattress designed to help protect their skin from pressure sores.
Consider the Space You Have Available
Before buying a hospital bed, think about the particular room that it will be in.
Can you maneuver a hospital bed into the room, navigating doorways, steps, and other obstacles?
How much room do you have in the space, and how sizeable a bed can it reasonably accommodate?
(Don’t forget to account for space that other medical equipment may require.)
Do some measuring ahead of time to make sure that you choose a bed that can fit.
Pay Attention to the High/Low Settings
Each hospital bed will have a maximum height and a minimum height that it can be adjusted to.
Think about your needs when it comes to patient care.
If a patient is a fall risk, do you need a very low positioning for safety or transfers to and from a wheelchair?
Consider how you transfer the patient.
If you’re transferring from a wheelchair, then you’ll need the bed to be at a different height than would be necessary when transferring from a Hoyer lift.
Decide Which Positions Are Important
When buying a hospital bed, you can find beds that offer just a few positions or more expensive beds that offer many more positions with more versatility.
Think about which positions are most important to the patient.
Look for a bed that offers these specific positions.
Look for an Appropriately Sized Bed
Patients come in all different shapes and sizes, and it’s important that a hospital bed properly fits a patient for them to be comfortable.
Taller patients might need a bed with an extension, while other patients might need a wider bed to be truly comfortable.
