Obesity affects nearly one-third of all Americans. A patient is considered obese if his body mass index (BMI) is 30 kg/m² or greater. Typical hospital beds are designed to hold patients weighing up to 450 lb and who don’t have a wide abdominal girth. Bariatric beds are a recent addition to hospital equipment that are designed to accommodate these larger patients. Various bariatric beds are available, ranging from those that are simply a larger version of a standard bed to low-air-loss mattresses that provides pressure relief (as shown below).

Bariatric beds provide more comfort for obese patients than standard-size beds. They help preserve self-esteem by providing these patients with a bed that easily fits their larger body size as well as special side rails that help them turn and reposition themselves. Bariatric beds allow caregivers to perform such routine care as boosting, turning, and transferring in and out of bed with greater ease and less risk of injury. Most bariatric beds have a built-in scale that allows the nurse to more easily weigh the patient. Some bariatric beds also convert to a cardiac chair.