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My 95 year old mother will not stay in her bed...she roams and is totally confused and thinks she can do things she no longer can...she is very feeble...she fell getting out of her bed about 2 weeks ago and had to go to the ER...thankfully nothing was broken but she had to have 9 stitches for a split lip and had a swollen black eye and various bruises on her body...I feel like a hospital bed would prevent her from getting up when no one is in the room with her. I have asked her Doctor before and he said she has to have a listed condition for medicare to pay, i.e. difficulty breathing, etc...this was about a year ago, but her dementia is sooo much worse now.

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Are you thinking that rails on a hospital bed would keep her in? The problem with that is if still mobile, PWD will often climb over the rails making the falls far more dangerous. Be sure your LO would be safe before getting a bed with rails.

When my mom became immobile, we put mesh side rails on the bed. We purchased them from Amazon...they were able to drop and slide under the mattress. That worked for over a year until she finally was able to get a hospital bed. She was able to qualify for it when she was totally incontinent along with being immobile. I needed to be able to raise the bed to change and bathe her. I had to make cloth covers for the side rails because her for would slide between the rails. I worried about the getting hurt.

The process for getting the bed was long... It took us about 3 months. We had a prescription from the doctor. Then they wanted all the doctors records. I made copies and took those down. Then they wanted to talk to the doctor. Then they requested a letter on letter head with specific information included. Also note that Medicare will only pay for a hand crank model. It takes 25-30 cranks on ours to raise it... Then the same to lower it. I do that every 2-3 hours to change mom. It is crazy!
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She has been incontinent for over 2 years now. She will use her potty chair when I put her on it when I am changing her but she doesn't know when she has the urge to go or if she does she doesn't ask to use the potty chair. She is at the stage where she sees people from the past that have long ago passed away. She never knows where she is and though she at times remembers my name she does not know that I am her daughter or that she is my mother, she even asks sometimes what a mother is. She will remember my father but not that he passed 15 years ago. She sees people that aren't there and carries on conversations with them and always thinks there is a baby in the bed with her. I have to move all the covers and open the closet door and move things around to show her there is no one there and no baby anywhere. She is at the point that she doesn't want to sit up long enough to eat or get her up to change her depends and clothes and bedding. She bruises very easily which i know comes with age, but she (and me and the majority of my family bruise easily the older we get) so I try not to pull her up but try to get her to use me to pull up but she doesn't get what I am trying to do . It's just becoming a real challenge to care for her while I am still working full time and have someone to watch her during the day. It will be a year and a half before I qualify for Medicare so if I to partime and start drawing my SS I will be stuck with the amount I get before my full retirement age and will loose my health insurance at work. I just really don't know what to do.
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My experience was different from Grammyteacher. Electric bed. Paid for by Medicare.
Call hospice and ask them to evaluate her for their care. They will provide a bed.
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If you mean does her dementia diagnosis secure her a bed and continued stay vs a NH or back to her home, no. Hospitals will not keep anyone in house due to prior chronic conditions ie high BP or diabetes if the person had been treated by providers in the past.
If your mom lives with you and it’s gettinh hard to provide care to her ask the hospital social worker about long term care facilities.
Good luck!
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I have a mother n law that is 94 years old and also has sun down dementia. We have her on a hospice program and we got a hospital bed a wheelchair. She also had her first fall a week ago being the fact she didnt want the rails up she rolled over and busted her nose open. By the time we got her up she did not remember she fell. Two days later she had two black eyes. I was really freaking out. Was really scared other family members would think the worse. Mind you she has 9 other kids and they just abonded her. I was told by the nurse dont feel bad it might of been her first fall but accidents are going to happen. Call the Dept human resorces for your state and request a hospital bed. It is a big help for lived ines to relax a little at night.
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Got the hospital bed! Dr ordered it on a Thursday and it was delivered on Monday. It has helped a great deal. I am just having to figure out how to change and dress her now versus the "old" way from the regular bed. She is much less mobile now so she can't even pull herself up any longer using the arms of the walker to assist in any way so I have to come up with another way to change and dress her. Hospice came in for a consult and said she is on the fence for them to step in. Her dementia is obviously advanced, she is immobile as far as walking or turning over but she can still feed herself so the nurse said she is not eligible yet. Home health is suppose to come in to help but i haven't heard back from them yet, but the hospice nurse did say if they can't take her to call her back and she would talk to her supervisor and see what they could do. I have also ordered a hospital bed tray that will roll under her bed and gotten a sippie cup for her to use because the over the lap tray won't fit right and everything keeps sliding off and then there is a mess with the food and drink...the sippie cup helps keep me from mopping up water and her drinks that she kept spilling over even though I used cups or glasses with a lid and straws the liquid would leak out aroung the straw opening and end up all over the floor or bed. My brother got me a fancy baby monitor that helps a great deal also. I can see and hear her while I am doing other things without having to constantly go into her room to check on her. It has been a life saver . I have to say it is still tough on me physically because of my arthritis, its dead weight even using the pads to try to get her positioned in the bed and trying to get her to sit up because she can not help at all. This is hard stuff and I hope and pray my children never have to deal with it for me. I have realized that living into your 90s with dementia or physical issues that make it impossible for you to even wipe your own bottom is NOT worth it. Having quality of life is much more important than longevity in some cases. The blessing for her comes from her not remembering anything different than how she is now so she doesn't "mourn" for her old life and wish she could do for herself. Bless all of you who are caring for your loved ones in your home 24/7, it is in no way easy or fun, we probably need the prayers more than the people we care for, they are going to get what they need, but we seldom do. Blessings y'all!
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So glad you got the bed!!
Is it electric? I hope you can get HH or Hospice. I’m sure they can help you learn a few things about caring for your mom in the new bed.
Keep us posted on how she’s doing.
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