Factors Impacting the Patient Migration in Hospital Beds: Pathway to Reduce Patient Handling Injuries

Patient migration, or displacement toward the foot of the bed, increases the risk of skin tears and pressure ulcers for patients and low back injuries for nurses. As a bed is repeatedly articulated throughout the day, the patient has the potential to continually move toward the foot of the bed. The impact of differing body types on migration were evaluated when lying supine on 4 different beds during a series of head of bed (HOB) elevations (30 and 45 degrees). Significantly less displacement was observed on beds with complex head section pivots than simpler designs. Greater HOB angles increased displacement, while gender and body dimensions had limited a role in displacement (less than 2%). Based on regression analyses, bed type and HOB angle explained the most variability in net displacement (62% and 16%, respectively). Significant patient migration occurs when HOB is raised to common clinically prescribed angles (30 and 45 degrees) for beds with simple HOB pivots and can be reduced by more complex designs. Body anthropometry had limited impact on the patient migration.

Kotowski S, Davis K

Keywords: safe patient handling, patient migration in bed, repositioning