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My uncle is in a nursing home. He is very frail, can't sit/stand/walk on his own. I received a call saying he rolled out of bed last night and needs x-rays. I asked if his side rails were up and bed alarm was up. I was told yes, but he rolled over the rails. Knowing my uncle's physical condition, I find this hard to believe. He can barely roll over on his own never mind OVER raised bed rails. Even if this were true, wouldn't the bed alarm be going off as he tried to go up and over?? Has anyone experienced this before? Is there anything I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again?

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I was amazed to see my mother get her legs up over the rail since she hasn't even been able to lift her feet or turn over in bed for a long, long time, it is surprising what they can do when they are determined. (That is why the full rails are banished in most places, injuries climbing over or getting caught in them are much greater than "simple" fall from the bed.) And the alarm is only going to sound after he is on his way out, unless someone was in the room with him it couldn't have prevented a fall. Mats beside the bed are helpful, but even better are high/low beds, which can be lowered to within inches of the floor.
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Tubs, it was a lot of trial and error to find ways to keep my Mom in bed, and in her Geri-recliner. Bed-rails were not allowed in nursing homes due to State law.

Mom's nursing home had the high/low beds, and fall mats around her bed. The Staff used a lot of pillows to tuck around her here and that seemed to work.

Sadly there isn't a whole lot anyone can do to prevent an elder from falling out of bed. It's amazing how determined an elder can be.
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I've seen frail, elderly people climb over bed rails. I've seen people get stuck in bed rails as well.

I too would wonder why the bed alarm didn't go off. Maybe it wasn't on as the nursing home stated it was. Or maybe it was on and was ignored when it went off. A NH would never admit to these things.

Some NH's place thick mats on the floor beneath a person's bed to help break a fall. Perhaps your uncle's NH has such mats.

I hope your uncle is OK.
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When mom kept falling out of her low bed, I went to Pintrest. I found a solution to keep toddlers in bed and it worked for mom. To keep mom in bed I used pool noodles.

I cut them to the length I wanted. Glued 3 of them together with Gorilla glue to make a pyramid. The pyramid slides under the fitted sheet to keep it in place. No more falling out.

I also have a motion detector under mom's bed to let me know when her feet hit the ground or if she ever falls out (she never has, the pyramid works!!). Never did the mat because was always packing things up to move.

I will say mom lives with me, so I don't know if it would be allowed in a facility.
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In our skilled care facility they had to take the alarms off all beds and chairs. I’ve seen in other rooms where they actually put the mattress on the floor with the pads around it. Falls are hard to avoid unless you hire an outside caregiver to watch him one on one during the night. And that is very costly. Sorry we don’t have better solutions for you. Best of luck.
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Although seemingly fantastical, the answer is yes! The elder can somehow magically become Super Woman, e.g. my own late mother who couldn't even open a water bottle almost broke her own eyeglasses when I tried to take them from her for safekeeping. It was shocking!
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