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They can't strap her in, and she might get hung up in the rails trying  to climb over it. It's dangerous either way.
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I agree. When I heard this 'rule' it flabbergasted me.

If they don't allow you bedrails, call the primary physician and ask for bedrails. We did this, and within 24 hrs. My mom had the partial length bed rails. Doctors can write a script for them.
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I agree with you. My Mom had a back injuring. It was recommended that I get an 18in side rail for her to pull herself up with. When she went to an AL she wasn't allowed to use it even though I explained why she needed it. They recommended a halo. Really, she couldn't use one of her arms to reach that far up. Try your state health department. They oversee nursing facilities.
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I thought that a doctor could issue a medical restraint order and that would allow them to put up rails or use some other restraint. Once in the ER, they put on what I would describe as a baby strapjacket on grandma to prevent her from getting off the gurney and hurting herself. Her arms weren't strapped, it was more like a vest that was tied to the gurney.
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I believe in many states, if the doctor writes an order for bedrails they can be used.
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I think that the posts here show that there is no single solution that is good for everyone. However, this is what regulations do. They make ONE rule that everyone has to follow or risk getting sued. There are so many things that can make rails safer, but it's easier to just ban them.
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Zen, keep advocating!

Bedrails are allowed in my state if the patient or POA signs a disclosure. It’s an issue that needs to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

My father did fine with bedrails until they tried ativan on him. (At 94, he’d never had anti anxiety meds, but probably needed them decades prior.) He alerted the nurse he was going to visit the bathroom and single hand vaulted over the bedrail (nailing a perfect dismount.) Upon his return, he fought off five male nurses’ help and vaulted back into bed.

They immediately lowered his bed and barracaded him with pillows. (He later said he had to fight the marshmellow army to get out of bed.) They posted a nurse to watch him until the effects of the ativan wore off and said, “no more “a(c)tivan” for him.”

The pillows were a much better option for him.
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I agree that there needs to be room for compromise, in my case we were allowed to have the rails as long as we signed a waiver acknowledging the risks. Those beds are pretty narrow and mom feels more secure being able to grab the sides when she is being cared for in bed, but she is pretty much immobile so there are no worries about her climbing out. Beds that have partial rails would be a good compromise, or using the bed assist rails as jjariz mentioned.
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I’m not new to this rodeo, as in the beginning of my career in nursing (1979) you could get in serious trouble with your supervisors and everyone if those bedrails were not in the “Up” position when the patient was unattended. 
Now, they are archaic and found to cause more bad outcomes as well.
At this point I am glad I don’t need to decide this yet but this is a huge safety issue both “to use” them vs not.
Just like within the past 5 years we added pain assessment as “Vital sign 5” & needed to document what you did to address the patient’s pain.
We encouraged the use of narcotics back then- now in less than 5 years its swung the pendulum & pain mgmt is not needed for so many. 

I think I would have mixed emotions regarding the bed rails. I would like the option to keep them, especially since they are only 1/3rd the bed length.

Every thing old is new again!
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ZenZen,
I feel your pain. My DH was in rehab and unable to sit upright in bed by himself (no climbing was going to occur), but rolled out of bed twice. Upon further research, I found that state law DID not allow bed rails that are FIXED to the bed. However, they allowed the type that push under the mattress and serve as a handrail to help a person rise from the bed. They are only about 1/4-1/3 the length of the bed. Anyway, they are enough to keep your LO from falling COMPLETELY out of bed and hitting their head.
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I agree with cwillie after I also educated myself about the hazards of having bed rails. There are excellent reasons why such State laws are in place.

Elders can become intertwined in those bed rails, breaking legs, and even getting their heads caught to a point of death. And then there are those patients who would climb over the rails only to seriously injure themselves.

When my Mom was living in long-term-care due to a serious head trauma she had at home which caused her serious memory loss, Mom couldn't remember that due to the head trauma she could no longer walk or stand.... but her brain kept telling her she could.

My Mom was a climber, and would routinely climb out of bed only to fall. The Staff kept trying different things to keep her from hurting herself. Yes, one would think bed rails would correct the situation, and even if it was legal, my Mom would probably climb over the rails causing a much higher fall.

Hospital beds can be lowered, and fall mats placed around the bed. Pillows can be stuffed into the mattress to make the bed more difficult to climb out of. That finally worked with my Mom.

Or do we want to sedate the patient to a point where they are sleeping 90% of the time?
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I used to think the same until I educated myself about the problems associated with bed rails, anyone who is determined will attempt to find a way around them and the statistics on severe injuries and death are frightening. Ask about a high/lo bed, they can be lowered to within a foot of the floor. They are also a deterrent for those who want to get up on their own without asking for help because most can't get up from that height.
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I can only sympathise with your frustration.

Please do persevere. I wonder (I don't know) if you might be able to unearth some obscure process which you can follow to apply for special permission for this unobtrusive "restraint" to be put in place for your mother?

Also. When she came home for end-of-life care, my mother was supplied with a proper hospital bed complete with side rails -

just goes to show the grass is always greener. I stuck notices all over her room reminding myself to check the rails were UP, and lost count of the number of cold sweats I went through fearing I'd forgotten. I digress...

- would you be able to arrange anything like that, maybe?
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I feel your pain. I am going through the same thing at Moms NH. I gave up on the bed rail issue. Now all I’m fighting for is reinstatement of her magnetic wheelchair alarm. It was removed suddenly when it was deemed a restraint. It comes apart when the person slides and pulls apart the magnet. Pulls apart the magnet! How is that restraint? Anyway she’s slid from the chair 3 times in the past few weeks. Hasn’t hurt herself. Yet. Other NH in NY still allow them so I’m fighting it with the ombudsman. Anyway to your bed rail issue the NH and I have implemented these 6 precautions: if it’s an electric bed lower it to the ground. If she’s in a normal twin bed ask for a really wide one usually used for larger patients as it’s harder to get out of. While she’s in bed put the mats on each side. Move the wheelchair and anything else she could fall on to the end of the bed. Roll up a blanket or pillow and kind of wedge under the blanket on each side of her bum to keep her into the middle of the bed. (This one is questionably a restraint so we all do kind of on the down low). Mom has a really wide flat call button like a disk for the visually impaired. Shes never actually used it to call for help, so we place it on the bed next to her bum so if she’s on the move and rolls onto it the alert goes to their pagers. She has rolled out once since these precautions were put into place but has not hurt herself. I hope these give you some things to implement while you fight your fight for the rails. Good luck.
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I also found this to be ridiculous. My father went to rehab after he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk. After a hospital stay he was sent to rehab. He always fell out of bed because there were no rails. I asked why the bed did not have rails to keep him in bed but the rehab center said it was the law. How stupid. Because of his tendency to fall, they kept him at the nurses' station in a wheelchair. There he would be slumped over in the chair the whole time he was there. I complained but to no avail. You are right it is a matter of checking patients at regular intervals so that they are safe. My father lives in my home now and he is in a hospital bed with rails. He has neither fallen out of bed nor gotten tangled up in the rails.
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My LO asked that her bed be made on the floor because she had fallen out of bed so often. She felt safer.
Here is a link on this subject 
fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/GeneralHospitalDevicesandSupplies/HospitalBeds/ucm123676.htm
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