Staffed Bed
What is a staffed bed?
Staffed beds refer to licensed and physically available beds that, should they be occupied by patients, have staff available to attend to them. When calculating the number of staffed beds at a facility, both occupied and vacant beds are included.
Staffed beds do not include beds unavailable due to facility renovation or lack of staffing.
One of the greatest constraints on the number of staffed beds at a facility is the number of workers, with smaller workforces from staffing shortages resulting in fewer staffed beds. Rising hospitalizations also threaten staffed beds, as the number of staffed beds is still set by the number of workers but can be exceeded by the number of patients requiring care.
Why is it important to know the number of staffed beds?
The number of staffed beds in a facility is a growing concern in regard to hospital capacity. While a hospital may have a set number of beds, only staffed beds are capable of attending to patients. Filling the hospital with more patients than three are staffed beds available can handle leads to poor patient care as healthcare workers become stretched too thin, or the patient will not receive care.
By increasing the number of staffed beds, facilities can maximize the number of patients they can care for.