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The concern is in this state she's at increased risk of falling if she gets up while the aid is asleep. I was thinking now might be a good time to transition to the hospital bed and use rails to discourage getting up alone. is this the right solution or is there a better one. Getting two aides is not in the budget

firsttimer1, when my Dad had 3-shifts of caregivers back when he was living at home. The night time caregiver was required to stay awake for his/her full shift, that way they could hear my Dad getting up in the middle of night. The caregivers were through a private caregiving company.

I agree with the others here, no to the hospital bed. There have been cases where elders have broken their leg when it was caught it in the railing, or choking themselves when their head went through the railing.

It might be time to consider Memory Care or a nursing home, where professionals can help out. If your Mom can't budget Memory Care, then check with Medicaid (different from Medicare) to see is she can quality for a nursing home, and Medicaid helps with the cost of the nursing home.
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Reply to freqflyer
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You don't need a hospital bed. Put Moms bed up to a wall. You can get bedrails any place that have arms that slide under the mattress.

Where does the aide sleep? Is she hired for just night time? If so, she should be able to hear Mom get out of bed. If she has a separate room, get a baby monitor. I live in a split level. My Moms room was on the lower floor and I was at the top of the house. I had a baby monitor so I could hear her when she was up and around. Have you tried having a commode in her room?
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Reply to JoAnn29
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So no advantage to the hospital bed
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Reply to firsttimer1
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In my experience the first thing a person does when bedrails are up is to try to climb over them, sort of like a toddler in a crib. I recommend a bed alarm to wake the aid. Does the aid stay in your mom's room all night? There is a reason for no restraints in care facilities unless the person is so at risk that the doctor orders them. When I started out working in a SNF almost 50 years ago, use of restraints was commonplace. We once had a Parkinson's patient slide down in her chair while being restrained by a soft belt. She slid down so far in the chair that the restraint was around her neck. She unknowingly hung herself. Even if safely restrained they need supervision.
This is another reason why restraints are not allowed anymore. They make the staff feel that the patient is safer being restrained and won't get into trouble. Believe me, a lot of the patients can get into all sorts of trouble if restraints are used.
Falls and injuries will happen at home or in an excellent facility. You just have to try to prevent them if possible.
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Reply to Sandra2424
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