Bed problems - suggestions please!

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
The way things are playing out at the moment the time when my mother should be safest, lying in bed, is the time when she is in fact in most danger. As I have posted elsewhere, her last stay in hospital was due to her falling out of bed (probably - she had no idea, but it seems likely) and I personally found her on the floor twice. There does not seem to be a solution to this. Bed rails are OK as far as they go. However, she has no ability to use a bell to call for help if she needs to go to the loo. We have experimented with adult continence products - unfortunately, even when she agrees to use them, she takes them off within 15 minutes, as she forget why they are there. If bed rails are on, there is a real danger that she will attempt to circumvent them if she decides she needs to use the toilet. I have considered placing her matress on the floor - at least that way she can't fall far. However, to do that I'd need some kind of hoist to get her on her feet - there is no way that one person could move her, nor is she able to get up herself.

I have looked at the "adult cot" that Bruce has for his wife, but even that may not be sufficient protection. As it stands, she is now in nursing care purely because of this issue .

Suggestions on a postcard please :)

Jennifer
 

Chris Edgerton

Registered User
Oct 22, 2003
73
0
Warwick District
Pressure pad - assistive technology

Try a pressure pad in the bed. This will alert you or nurses that she is moving. They can be attached to a variety of devises; the wired alarm system in the hospital/nursing home, a transmitter for an individual such as yourself or a bell. All part of assistive technology to help people live a better life. Although in its self will not prevent a fall if she can not get our of bed without help.

yours fraternally

chris
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Thanks for the suggestion. All of the versions of this sytem I have seen seem to rely on an audible alarm. Are there any that would signal to a remote location? Prior to all this she was an in extra care apartment, attached to the nursing home. There are staff in the home who could answer am alarm, but only if the alarm was sent. A system that alerts each time the person gets out of bed would mean they would have to keep going over, and the then you get the "crying wolf" problem. The problem is two-fold. 1) she rolls out of bed when she's asleep, and 2) she also falls (sometimes) when she tries to get out of bed. What I would like to do is try to ensure that she doesn't fall in the first place. There is something called a fall monitor which signals if someone doesn't return to bed within a specified period so at least she wouldn't be on the floor too long, but that's about it as far as technology is concerned
 

connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
I had 'pressure pads' around Lionels bed. As soon as he put just one toe to the ground the "buzzer alarm" went off.

Tried bed bars, they did not work, and when he went into respite they used to put his bed on the floor. (Of course, there were always enough staff to get him up, so that never worked at home.)

That phase has passed.......now he cannot attempt to get out of bed on his own.
Such is life.
 

SHANDY

Registered User
Jan 24, 2007
26
0
bed solutions

hi, i posted last week that mum kept falling out of bed, now the nursing home has put moms bed on the floor, it seems to work at night, but she had another fall in the day yesterday.

went to see her last night, she was very upset, i told her i would always be there for her and she said but not when i'm like this. she hates us seeing her like this, very distressing for all especially mum. shes seems to have deteriated since moving t nursing nearly 3 weeks ago.


regards

shandy
 

Grannie G

Volunteer Moderator
Apr 3, 2006
81,449
0
Kent
Dear Shandy, I`m sorry you are finding your mother`s deterioration so distressing.
All I can offer in way of comfort, is the thought that she may have deteriorated in the same way, even if she`d been at home. It was because she`d reached this stage that you were made to consider residential care.
No-one will ever be able to find anything even remotely acceptable in this dreadful condition.
Take care of yourself. Sylvia x
 

SHANDY

Registered User
Jan 24, 2007
26
0
stressful

thanks grannie g for you kind words, as i am the only daughter with 2 brothers and a father to contend with, my mother would have expected me to take care of them, but this is becomming increasingly difficult as i myself am finding the situation very hard to deal with, but i have to soldier on for my family and my mum , to be strong.


regards

shandy
 

Sandy

Registered User
Mar 23, 2005
6,847
0
Hi Jennifer,

I don't have any practical experience to offer, but (like you) am a keen internet researcher.

You might want to look at a small bed rail that might be enough to keep her from rolling out, but isn't so large that she would have to risk falling to get out of bed:

http://www.benefitsnowshop.co.uk/shop/detail/4382.htm

The other possibility is some sort of bolster that would be just big enough to reduce the risk of rolling out, but not so steep as to make it risky to get out of bed. The following link shows a more extreme example, but demonstrates the principle:

https://www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk/products3.cfm?productid=533&currentcatid=3&currentsubcatid=7

Has anyone suggested hip protectors? I think other people have written about these in the past, but here is a general idea:

http://www.winhealth.co.uk/HipSavers.htm

Take care,

Sandy
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Thanks Sandy. The bed rails might well work. The wedge things I think she'll try to climb over, while the hip protectors I KNOW she'll have off as soon as she forgets why she's wearing them (like the incontinence pads: off within 15 minutes).

Many thanks

Jennifer
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
Yes sadly as it sounds Sylvia is right
No-one will ever be able to find anything even remotely acceptable in this dreadful condition.


In one of my mother respite home they had a mat on the floor that as soon as she puts a foot on the floor where the mat is it sets of an alarm in the staff room of care home , not sure if that is what they call 'pressure pads' ?

I know in a perfect word they would be someone sitting in the same room as the person that is like your mother at her stage.

Same that they can not put fooling down that is padded, so it she does fall out of bed can not damage herself, a padding flooring like they have in children play area if they fall of the swing or the slide or sit down on when teacher is reading a story to them in class room, not sure what they are called. Putting that all around , under your mother bed in care home sounds good , but don’t think they pay for it unless you by it yourself I wonder , the bed could be low , a handel bar on bed so she help herself get up ( if she at that stage she still can ) and the alarm pads on the padded flooring . Just a thought
 
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jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Thanks for everyones suggestions. At least you all have suggestions even if they may not all work in this situation. What get's me about this whole thing is that the people who are supposed to involved themselves in this, the OTs, just sent her home with just a walking frame and no consideration of the possible dangers. They didn't even speak to me. I am really fed up about the whole thing, particularly as if they'd bothered to ask, falling out of bed is the number one reason why she's in danger. Or alternatively read the notes (that is, if anyone to whom I spoke bothered to write my concerns down, which they probably didn't).

If I sound bitter, it's becasue I am. Also I still don't have any water (see my post in the tea room) and it's making me a little tetchy.

Jennifer