Why are bed assist rails always pictured positioned in the middle of the bed?

I recently had a short stay in a nursing facility after surgery. There were bed rails, but they were at the top 1/4 of the bed. It was possible to get in and out with them up, but moving them back and down while in the bed was not problem. All the beds in the facility were the same. I am not sure what the local or state laws are here in CA, so can't comment.

cwillie: At least a few of them are adjustable, which makes sense.

Its amazing that bed railings are okay for toddlers and kids but for seniors they are not!
My daddy had them on his bed in the home and during hospice when he was back at home.
I did read that side rails are a cause of entrapment but that was a study done back in 2010!
Personally if the patient was checked on more often then that patient would not have been trapped!
A mesh side rail - like I use for my grands - may work and some mesh toddler side rails fold down.

It doesn’t matter how you intend to use them. There is a dumb law that says facilities cannot use them at all. My husband Is in a rehab that does not have them at all for this reason. At home I would not be able to transfer him without his bar to assist us.

My husband's bed rails are there to keep him in bed. Positioned at the top of the bed near the head. There are bottom rails available which I did not request. He is now totally bed-bound and too weak to attempt to get out of bed. Before he was able to turn on his side with the help of the bed rails and get his legs over the side. However, he could not sit up or stand and ended up falling out of bed. We met friendly firemen who came for a lift-assist to get him back into bed. Bed rails on the bottom or middle would have prevented him from falling out of bed. I would lower the bed to be close to the floor when I would leave the house. Now the bed stays at the highest position.

Are you talking abount a rail or pole to ASSIST independant transfers?

Or rails to prevent someone rolling out of bed?

I just did a quock google search for Bed Assist Rails & I see what you mean! Nearly all pictures had it centre, blocking the legs from swing around. Dumb.

Bed sticks were found to a chocking hazzard & have caused injury & death in my state. Now banned in many places unless assessed & prescribed & an OT.
I believe the arched type or triange handle above have proven to be safer if positioned correctly.

I have to admit that when I was very green and helping my uncle after his return home from the hospital I placed the supplied bed rail as it was shown in the picture. The poor man couldn't get into bed and spent the night in a chair, I've never been able to get that regret out of my mind 😖

I’m trying to remember how mom’s railing was placed. Her occupational therapist rearranged her furniture and told us where to position the bed rails.

The rails were not in the way of her getting out of bed.

I think they were placed towards the top of the bed. Mom needed something to grab onto to steady herself when rising up. Her Parkinson’s disease caused mobility issues for her.

I do feel that having the help of an occupational and physical therapist helps greatly. They also adjusted mom’s walker to a different height for her to be more comfortable.

The trend is away from using bedrails due to death from choking hazards. Bedrails are being replaced with beds that drop to the floor(so client is sleeping close to the floor) and gym mats on the floor next to the bed if client is at risk of rolling out of bed.

This made me curious and I found a Physical Therapist on YouTube who showed putting it towards the persons top of the bed. Maybe those other bedrails are made in China and they are just clueless about where to advise positioning it or because they think it is a barrier and not something for assistance? Just a theory.