The Advantages & Disadvantages of a Hospital Bed

07 Jul.,2025

 

The Advantages & Disadvantages of a Hospital Bed

Whereas a normal bed is permanently flat, a hospital bed allows the patient or their caregiver to adjust the head and foot sections independently to come to a semi-seated position or raise the legs or knees. This is an important feature for patients who will be spending a significant amount of time in bed.

defeng contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.

  • Foot section. Being able to raise the lower body is a great advantage for patients with a foot or knee injury or a condition that causes swelling in the feet because it encourages blood flow back to the heart.

  • Head section. The ability to raise the head and back to a semi-sitting position is helpful when the patient wants to watch TV or spend time with visitors. The upper panel can then be lowered again, allowing the patient to sleep comfortably.

Improved Comfort

Hospital beds, or adjustable medical beds, are made with heavy use in mind. For that reason, the typical hospital bed mattress is made from therapeutic foam that's both comfortable and strong and is covered in a thick, easy-clean vinyl outer layer. 

To cushion the patient’s pressure points and prevent or treat bed sores, gel, foam, water, and reactive-air overlays are often used on top of the mattress. The head and foot sections of the home hospital bed can also be adjusted to change the patient's position, maximize comfort, and encourage circulation.

Easier Maneuvering and Transfers

Because hospital beds can be raised and lowered vertically, they make it much easier for patients to transfer to a power wheelchair or mobility aid for walking compared to regular beds. This function also makes it easier to transfer the patient from one surface to another using a sit-to-stand lift or a regular patient lift.

Patients with good upper body strength can use the overhead trapeze bar that comes with many hospital beds to help them change positions and go from sitting to standing. For the caregiver, the adjustable height that is a feature of many hospital beds can help to prevent back injuries associated with bending over for long periods of time.

Disadvantages of Hospital Beds

Single Occupancy 

While two people can sleep in a regular bed, hospital beds are made to be used by one patient at a time. In a hospital setting, this is ideal because it gives nurses full access to each patient. However, in a home setting, couples may want to sleep together. 

If the patient will only need the hospital bed temporarily while recovering from an illness or surgery, sleeping alone may not be a huge issue and could be the best way to keep the patient safe. For long-term use, consider two hospital beds pushed together (remember to lock the wheels) or an adjustable split-king medical bed.

Aesthetically Limited

Because of their utilitarian design, hospital beds typically come in a much smaller range of designs compared to ordinary beds—particularly as far as the headboard, footboard, and bed railing are concerned. If you're renting a hospital bed, you will have an even more limited choice of designs from which to choose. Learn the 7 most important factors when renting a hospital bed.

The good news is that—as hospital beds become more popular for home use—models are now available that look more like traditional beds and can be made to fit your existing decor. If you are looking to buy a hospital bed for long-term use, ask about the options available.

Heavier Construction

Hospital beds tend to be heavier than regular beds because of the strong frame, electric circuitry, hinges, rails, and head and footboards. Bariatric beds, in particular, weigh a lot more than regular beds thanks to their sturdy construction and extra-large bariatric mattresses. To make them easier to move, hospital beds usually come with wheels or can be broken apart, so you should never have to lift the entire bed.

If you or a loved one requires a hospital bed, consider putting the bed on the ground floor of the home in a room that's easy for the patient and others to access. When renting or purchasing the bed, it's also well worth having it delivered. Don't risk injuring yourself.

Requires a Power Outlet

Semi-electric hospital beds and full-electric beds—such as the ones rented and sold at our Denver, Colorado showroom—need to be plugged into a power outlet to power the motor that adjusts the bed. The original manual hospital beds didn't require powering because they were adjusted via a hand crank. 

While a manual bed might be too cumbersome for a caregiver who is physically weak, semi-electric beds offer a good compromise—the convenience of an electric bed with or without a hand crank to change the vertical height.

For more information, please visit Hospital Bed Casters.

Hospital Beds Are an Excellent Solution for People with Limited Mobility

When you weigh all factors, hospital beds offer more advantages than disadvantages for a patient who needs additional comfort, safety, and assistance. The few disadvantages that can come with hospital beds (such as separate sleeping, aesthetics, weight, and a power source) are easy to work around and shouldn't be a problem for most. 

What are the uses of wheel casters on medical equipment?

The industrial caster has many uses, but in the simplest terms, all those uses boil down to just one – to transport items! However, determining the right caster depends largely on the items that the casters are being used on.

For example, reliable medical equipment casters are extremely important in almost any type of healthcare facility. Medical equipment is typically quite expensive. Casters on hospital equipment will be used to transport patients, so it’s important that these casters do not fail. In a medical environment, the performance of your casters can truly be seen as a matter of life and death!

Some of Casters Important Uses

Advances in medical equipment mean that important devices and equipment are much smaller and lighter than previous generations. This – however – does not necessarily mean that you should ‘skimp’ by using cheap, light-duty casters. The norm is now for all types of medical equipment to be transported on some type of cart so that the equipment can easily move throughout a medical facility. These carts are often holding extremely expensive pieces of medical equipment, and therefore the casters must be able to reliably stand up to the daily rigors of rolling up and down the halls day and night. You can easily see how important it is that your casters are always up to the task at hand.

Finding the Right Supplier for Your Medical Casters

At Douglas Equipment, we are in the business of supplying a wide range of highly reliable casters, on a wholesale basis. Some of our casters are capable of carrying up to 120 lbs. of valuable medical equipment. Our casters are typically manufactured using dual-bearing raceways (the part of the caster that is attached to the plate mounting allowing for full 360 degree rotation) and are heat-treated during construction to make sure they are durable and easy to maneuver.

Many of our casters can be supplied with brakes. This is important if you need your equipment to remain in one place.

The Type of Casters Used on Medical Equipment

The entire goal of medical equipment casters is to be as useful as possible without any hindrance. We fully understand that casters have a smart part to play in any kind of medical procedure, but it is still a vital one. The success of any aspect of a medical procedure is dependent upon the entire process being a smooth one. Delays along the line of any description can render the personnel involved at a distinct disadvantage. This is why at Douglas Equipment we are committed to providing casters that can always be relied upon to get the job done, time after time.

We understand all the most important aspects of casters on medical equipment. They must be:

  • Smooth rolling
  • Easy to start into motion
  • Shock absorbing (crucial when transporting patients)
  • Noise reducing
  • Hygienic
  • Easy to clean
  • Easy to maintain

We also supply casters to the medical industry that both meet and exceed OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requirements.

The Right Type of Casters Will Allow for Greater Mobility

Hospitals across the country put the needs of their patients above everything else. Hospitals are not like production lines – it’s not a case of ‘patients in, patients out’. The care and comfort of patients are paramount at all times. The better they are treated while they are within your facility, the more likely they are to thrive and recuperate.

This is why mobility – and smooth mobility at that – is crucial. While they are recovering, or waiting for a procedure to begin, endless hours lying in a hospital bed can be soul-destroying. If mobility is possible, then for your patient’s comfort, it should be offered. Patients can often be responsible for the movement of their own health monitors, as they seek the occasional change of scenery. It’s important then that there is no hindrance to their mobility, and smooth-rolling, reliable casters are key to that.

Patients must be wheeled throughout the hospital from their beds to surgery and from surgery to recovery, and then back to their beds.

It is vitally important that these transitions as smooth as possible, for the comfort and well being of your patients. For hospital gurneys and stretchers, you need to invest in the highest-performing caster wheels possible.

Get Your Medical Operation Running as Smoothly as Silk!

Here at Douglas Equipment we stock a large range of caster and caster wheels, many of which are suitable for the medical profession. They are smooth-rolling, quiet and reliable. They are manufactured to extremely high standards – as necessary when you’re dealing with patients and expensive pieces of medical equipment.

We stock from many of the best manufacturers in the world, including Shepherd, Colson, Albion, Algood, Bestway Casters, Blickle and Darnell-Rose. Some of these companies manufacture casters that are specifically designed for the medical industry, while others make casters that are still suitable for use when it comes to medical applications. You need to know exactly which casters are the best ones for your medical facility. The team here at Douglas Equipment is always on hand for help.

The company is the world’s best Manual Bed Crank Handle supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.