Bed Hiding in Hospitals

As I travel and work with customers, I often hear the term “bed hiding.”  This is nothing new.  Before working for Central Logic, I used to be responsible for managing patient flow and bed capacity at a hospital and the concept of “bed hiding” was a common topic of discussion.  Regardless of where and when it is said, these words often insinuate that: “Nurses hide beds.”

Being a nurse myself I have experienced both sides of patient flow.  First, as a staff nurse on a unit receiving patients and providing direct patient care, and second, being responsible for patient placement (indirect patient care) and sending patients to units.  Thus, I would like to propose a different perspective.  Nurses do not intentionally hide beds preventing patient care from being initiated or continued.  It is not part of the nursing profession and behavior to prevent patients from accessing care. 

Instead, I think “bed hiding” is most often unintentional.  Nurses on units are busy with other tasks and patient care activities that prevent them from timely alerting the bed placement office of available capacity.  I realize we are not living in a “Pollyanna” world and that there may be times when intentional bed hiding may occur. This is especially pertinent in situations when the unit and/or nurse need an extra thirty minutes or so to catch up on documentation and other patient care activities.

Whether you believe bed hiding is intentional or not, put in place systems and processes that will assist the unit staff nurse.  Automate tasks that will support and assist the patient caregiver and enhance patient flow so we can all help in removing bed hiding.