Die Entfesselung der Alten. Bettgitter in den Sicherheitsdispositiven der Pflege. Schwerpunkt: Orte des Alters und der Pflege – Hospitäler, Heime und Krankenhäuser

The use of bedrails in hospitals and nursing homes has been a subject of controversy fordecades. However, analysis of the literature about bedrails reveals that the issue of use and misuse of mechanical restraints via bedrails is very complex and cannot be explained by individual factors. It involves several actors in addition to patients: nurses, hospital administration, relatives, doctors, insurance companies, manufacturers, lawyers, and so on. After years of criticism and many injured patients, bedrails are still in common use in hospitals and nursing homes. Consequently, I argue that bedrails are more than just poorly designed, mundaneobjects; they are integral components of the “apparatus of security” (Foucault): Besides preventing people from falling out of bed – which they may or may not do – they secure specific circulations, such as movements of people and things, in hospital and nursing home settings