Beds in acute somatic wards. Patient and staff perspectives.A study of activities, functions, opinions, problems and requirements

Abstract

Hospital beds have to fulfil many demands from both patients and staff. During the last decade, treatment of patients in hospitals has undergone great changes in technical, medical and nursing methods. However, the design and basic functions of the standard hospital beds have not been changed since the 1960s. The present studies, therefore, aimed to reveal whether the beds used in modern acute wards are appropriate for their purposes and whether and how their properties can be improved to further satisfy their users. An inventory of all the beds for adults was performed to find out what types of beds are used. Interviews were carried out with 49 head nurses and 60 patients to assess their opinions concerning hospital beds. An observation study at two wards was performed to assess how the beds are used. A questionnaire study with 74 nurses and an experimental study with 19 nurses were performed to assess the staff's opinions concerning the hos-pital beds and to explore the efforts and difficulties when transporting patients in beds.The head nurses put forward many complaints regarding the beds. They had little influ-ence with regard to the purchasing of new beds. The patients experienced that the bed and the bedside equipment were often not optimal for providing rest or for enabling them to perform activities when in bed. Different wards had similar types of beds, but the use of the beds differed between different wards. The personnel experienced unsatis-factory working postures when performing nursing tasks. Transportation was the most problematic task. The construction of the bed had a major influence on the perceived workload of the personnel.Conclusions: Hospital beds only partly fulfil the demands of patients and staff in modern medical and nursing care. Important findings are that the patients experienced the beds as being uncomfortable and not satisfying basic needs. The personnel descri-bed the beds as being unsatisfactory work tools. The thesis also presents the patients' and staff's assessment of important features of bed and bedside equipment, thereby pro-viding essential knowledge for the improvement of their functions.