Facilitating repositioning in bed.

Repositioning patients in bed presents an occupational hazard to direct care nursing staff. Much research has been conducted in the area of safe patient handling and movement. However, little progress has been made in reducing risks associated with patient repositioning, especially pulling patients toward the head of the bed. This laboratory study investigated risk reduction achieved by introducing the gravity assist feature into bed system design for post-acute health care. Through the application of gravity assist, the amount of work required to reposition a simulated 200-pound patient was reduced by 67%. This reduction in work should reduce some of the occupational risk for nurses.