Help Patients Sleep Safely by Maintaining Mattress Covers

​The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 20, 2017, released a new poster summarizing its recommendations to prevent infection risks from damaged or worn hospital bed mattress covers. Such covers provide outer protection to a mattress by preventing blood and other body fluids from permeating the mattress. They are typically detachable and may be coated with antimicrobial solution. Safety issues arise when mattress covers begin to wear out and allow body fluids to become trapped inside the mattress. The fluids can then leak the next time the mattress is in use. FDA received more than 700 reports of mattress covers failing to prevent blood and other body fluids from leaking into the mattress between 2011 and 2016.