Bed Bumpers & Bed Wedges: Bedding Accessories for Your Residents’ Enhanced Comfort

Bed bumpers or bed rails are bedding accessories designed to offer a barrier around the bed edges. This way, they can prevent falls, mitigate the risk of entrapment and ensure a good night’s sleep for your residents.

You may be familiar with bed bumpers for children. They are used when the children are too small to realize when they are close to falling off the bed.

Bed bumpers for adults come with similar benefits. They are ideal for residents or patients with balance problems or neuro-degenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s.

The NHS recommends bed rails for nursing homes as a way to prevent accidents. More importantly, the NHS recommends a thorough risk assessment by clinicians to establish which residents can benefit from bed bumpers the most.

Our nursing home clients choose bed bumpers for adults to:

• Prevent accidental falls and reduce the risk of resident injury.
• Provide a sense of security to bedridden patients who may feel anxious or agitated while receiving care.
• Make transfers in and out of bed easier for both the patient and the caregiver.
• Prevent bedsores by allowing your residents to move as much as they need to without risking injury.

Looking for bed rails for your nursing home? Our bed bumpers/bed rails are made from high-quality materials that ensure resistance and a long lifespan, so you and your residents can use them for longer.

Moreover, they are:

• Easy to install
• Easy to clean
• Soft and breathable for enhanced comfort
• The most affordable way to give your residents and your staff members peace of mind.

If you ever had to comfort an anxious resident or deal with one who fidgets a lot, you know that bed bumpers can be lifesavers. We’ve seen a lot of nursing home residents or bedridden patients wonder how they managed with a mere wooden or metal bed rail alone.

While most bed bumpers enhance security and comfort, they are not all identical. Here’s what to look for when choosing a bed bumper:

• The size of the bed and of the surrounding area. Take precise measurements to ensure that there is enough space around the bed to attach additional medical equipment.
• The fabrics. Look for soft and comfortable bed bumpers so you don’t increase the risk of hurting your residents.
• Ease of cleaning. In hospitals and nursing homes, more than one patient will use the same bed bumper. This is why it’s essential that they are easy to clean and disinfect to prevent the spreading of various viruses and bacteria.
• Sturdiness. Bed bumpers for adults need to be sturdier than those for children to prevent your residents from rolling out of bed. Not sure if the bed rail you chose fits the weight of your residents? Talk to our consultants about it!
• Ease of moving and adjusting. Look for lightweight bed rails that you can easily adjust or attach to another bed, depending on whom among your residents need them.

Bed wedges, wedge pillows, or bed positioning wedges are medical devices made of polyfoam, memory foam, or plastic (for inflatable wedges) used to ensure a better position and enhanced comfort for the elderly.

Bed wedges come in different shapes and sizes depending on their purpose. You can use wedges to support seniors’ bodies or to keep them from falling out the bed.

While most bed wedges are triangle-shaped, you can also find rectangular or cylindrical pillows used for elevating the knees or simply ensuring a more comfortable position.

Wedge pillows can be used for:

• Ease respiratory issues by propping the resident up.
• Relieving back pain.
• Relieving hip pressure.
• Preventing bed sores.
• Propping the resident in a comfortable position when you change the sheets.
• Ease acid reflux.
• Ensure a more comfortable position when sitting to watch TV or read.

Bed wedges can increase the quality of life of your residents, prevent accidents, and offer them more independence. While you can always use regular pillows to help prop them into the desired position, those slip easily. Wedge pillows are sturdier and made of non-slipper fabrics.

The NHS recommends wedge pillows for a variety of uses for all ages, from preventing sudden infant death syndrome to senior care. Bed wedges can help with post-surgery recuperation and post-injury rehabilitation, as well as help patients with chronic illnesses and various mobility problems that cause long-term confinement to bed.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to wedge pillows for the elderly. Depending on the type of illnesses that your residents suffer from and their level of mobility, you will need a few different types of bed wedges.

The most used wedge pillows for nursing homes are:

• Mattress tilters to help residents with respiratory issues
• Adjustable wedge pillows for a better, more restful sleep
• Back support wedges for seniors who sleep on their side. These also function as aides when moving residents in bed to prevent bed sores.
• Knee elevators
• Wedges in various shapes and sizes to enhance comfort when sitting for long periods of time.

Irrespective of the bed wedge models you choose, we recommend that you look for:

• Wedge pillows that are easy to clean and disinfect, since they may be shared among residents.
• High-durability pillows to protect your investment. The longer their lifespan, the better your ROI.

At NHC Group we supply a great variety of healthcare products, just like our range of bed bumpers and wedges. These are ideal for elderly adults and offer them extra peace of mind and safety at night.

These guards can protect them against accidental falls and rolling while asleep. These products are ideal for anyone who has a disability or is vulnerable to falling out of bed. Our wedges can help to keep the user positioned while in a full-length profile bed, and our bumpers offer fully padded and insulated protection in bed.

Need more reasons to choose bed wedges and bed bumpers from NHC Group? We’ve got them:

• We never compromise on quality. We know that your success is our success so we always source the best possible products that adhere to NHS and international standards.
• NHC Group is more than a supplier of care home furniture and accessories -- we are your partner. You can rely on us for everything, from speedy shipping to the maintenance of everything you buy from us.
• Competitive pricing: we know that nursing homes often have budget challenges, so we strive to meet any budget.
• 20+ years as a preferred UK supplier to care homes. A lot of nursing homes and hospitals across the UK trust us. Join them!
• We’re always in your corner: not sure which product suits your residents’ needs best? You don’t have to make the choice alone! Our consultants are always ready to help you make the right choice!

Need more information about our range of bed bumpers and bed wedges? Our experienced consultants are just an email or a phone call away!

Talk to our consultants