Swing beds: an approach to hospital utilization.

The need to use every available space for productive purposes is becoming a major concern for hospitals, especially rural hospitals. This need, coupled with the decline in the building of nursing homes, has given rise to the concept of the swing bed, a hospital bed that can be used to provide care to either acute or long-term care patients. This ability allows an acute care hospital to provide care to patients who might traditionally receive care in a nursing home.