Mom is late stage 7 and still walking but needs assistance. She is living at a ALF on the Memory Care side. She has falling out of bed twice in the past month - head first- but the sheet has saved her from a bad fall. I contacted the people at the ALF to try to come up with something I can do to help with the fall or prevent it. I asked about pillows, floor mat but they tell me that is a restraint and can't be done. Do you have any idea's - her bed cannot go against the wall because she shares a room and the room is not designed for that. I really believe that the roommate bed got moved in a different position and because of this it was a change for Mom with the roommates bed being close to Mom's bed. I think Mom was sliding over thinking her bed was there and fell in the hole but who knows.
I asked about a big stuffed animal to put on that side but have not hear anything yet. Any suggestions? She hasn't falling out of the bed in two weeks but I just want to know if there is something that can be used or done to help with this in the future.

I am so very sorry for the recent falls. It can be scary and upsetting when such occurrences happening. I hope you find a solution that works and puts you at ease.

I am wondering if your mom has bars along the side of her bed, this would be like a hospital bed? If she is simply rolling out of bed while she is asleep this type of bed may stop the roll. However if she is attempting to get out of bed and then falls because she cannot do so herself anymore, it may be a different issue with a different solution.

I encourage you to work with the facility staff and see if they have dealt with this before and what solutions seem to work. Also talk with your mom’s doctor about possible medications to assist her with sleep. If she is attempting to get out of bed at night and is restless medications may assist her to get through the night undisturbed. Sleep distrubances are very common in Alzheimer's and could be contributing to these falls.

I am glad she has not fallen out of bed recently, and I hope it stays that way. But you are right, it is important to plan to the future as well as take necessary precautions. Please talk with her doctor as well as the facility staff about other options, including a bed to fit her needs. Also, I encourage you to call our helpline to talk more about this with one of our Care Consultants. Call 800.272.3900.

Bests,

Nursing homes in particular have to be careful about Federal regulations against use of restraint. ALFs also tend to worry about these regs, depending I suspect depending on how the state inspectors apply these regs to ALs.

Regs against restraints say that they cannot use lap belts on wheel chairs or side rails on beds (when the patient is a dementia patient who does not have the ability to self release the device.) Side rails are an especial hazard to dementia patients who may attempt to climb out over the rails and then fall farther. There is also the risk of entrapment between the rails and mattress. What do facilites do about dementia residents falling from beds? Many facilities use the cheap solution and place mattresses on the floor to reduce the distance of fall. Some Nursing homes have power beds that can be lowered to very close to the floor. They also place plastic covered foam pads on the floor next to the bed. These are NOT restraints. If you want to verify this, you can call your state department that does inspections at ALFs, in my state, the Department of Health.

I received many calls from the AL saying they had found my mother on the floor next to the bed. We believed that in most cases, she had slid out of bed, trying to get up during the nite, vs an actual fall.

My mother has had a few falls from the bed in the ALF that she is in. A hospital bed with side rails was provided by hospice but then we were told that the rails could not be used for the reasons cited in the previous message. The ALF has lowered the bed to the floor and uses a mat to prevent Mama from hurting herself. She is not sleeping at night either and is constantly getting up to go somewhere. We are in the process of placing her in a secure facility with the hope that the side rails can be used. But I was told last week that state regs prohibit their use even in the secure side. We are going to go ahead with this placement simply because it is a secure facility.

DH 6'3" 119 pounds at last weigh in. I am a RN and he could be on hospice. I don't want him taken for another MRI/Catscan after a fall. With this fruther weight loss and his very increased sleeping or wanting to stay in bed til 1 PM, he is still eating double lunches and dinners but this will probably stop at some point, I don't know how to handle this or what to do. Arden Court a dementia unit is doing a terrific job. It is a subset of Manor Care.

OF course I am scared of stage 7, and death, but it is coming and I need to know how to approach Arden court with this decision. The hospice we helped form has taken patients for home care at Arden Court and I could take him down to the city near my church to Richey House but he is a little to mobile for that facility and they deal more with cancer patients.

Any ideas? Pat