provided by Southwest Medical Center

Southwest Medical Center introduced new capital purchase upgrades for patients this month with the installation of new therapeutic beds for the Intensive Care Unit.

Southwest Medical Center’s ICU Nurse Manager, Raquel Bryant, RN, explains that these beds help specifically with issues commonly faced in the critical care setting. These new bed systems will offer greater comfort, improved clinical outcomes and enhanced safety for patients admitted to the ICU floor.

“The Progressa ICU bed system was selected to help our team provide high quality patient care,” Bryant said. “The Progressa bed system is a therapeutic device with features that help support early mobility, increase patient safety, help reduce pressure ulcers, and prevent ventilator associated complications. This critical care specific bed can help reduce complications related to immobility and long term ventilation.”

Each bed comes equipped with an air chamber mattress which applies weight-based pressure redistribution to keep patients of all body types in a comfortable position. In addition, the bed’s surface helps to reduce excess heat and moisture, which keeps patients cool and protects against skin breakdown.

One key feature, continuous lateral rotation therapy, keeps these beds moving periodically to gently shift patients. This rotation therapy helps decrease the effects of immobility, and keeps pulmonary secretions moving to improve respiratory processes.

“The beds also have percussion and vibration therapy including postural setting options,” Bryant added. “This will help patients at risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia, patients with an acute lung injury, or those with acute respiratory distress syndrome.”

These beds are designed to support early mobility, which may result in shorter ICU stays and improved clinical outcomes for patients. Each bed adjusts easily for patient comfort and positioning, while also keeping patients safe with bed alarms and the ability to lock the bed’s head position to maintain safety protocols. These bed mattresses adjust through gradual air inflation and deflation, but can be rapidly adjusted using a hands-free CPR release to allow care teams to respond in the event of cardiac arrest.

Additional features allow for the easy positioning of x-ray cassettes, bed pans, and respiratory therapy equipment in a way that requires very little repositioning or discomfort for patients.

Bryant notes that her care team sees advantages not only in patient safety features, but in features such as turn assist, during which the bed mattress will inflate on one side to help staff more easily turn their patients for procedures and care. The beds also integrate with the existing nurse call system, can easily capture patient weight, and log events. Bryant says these features further improve process flow for the staff to care for patients undergoing critical care.

“Our whole care team is excited about these beds, as they will bring great benefit and comfort to our patients,” Bryant said. “We are always looking to improve patient comfort and safety, and these beds are an incredible tool to be able to support our nurses and providers in delivering excellent care to patients in our community.”

Southwest Medical Center operates an 8-bed Intensive Care Unit, which had 379 patients admitted for care in 2017.