ENGLISH
REFERENCE

bed blocker

idiom
Meaning

An elderly hospitalized person who is too infirm to return home but not sufficiently ill to necessitate continued hospitalization, creating a situation in which his or her hospital stay is prolonged while authorities or relatives search for a suitable placement amid the scarce resources of nursing homes or other long-term care facilities.


Examples
SIMPLE

The hospital staff worried that the patient had become a bed blocker.

CONTEXTUAL

Because the nursing home had no available rooms, the elderly patient remained a bed blocker for several weeks.

COMPLEX

The hospital administration struggled to manage the rising number of bed blockers, as the lack of social care facilities prevented timely patient discharges.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    bed in

    To allow or help to settle in; to make (someone) feel at home.

  2. 02

    bed of roses

    A pleasant or easy situation; an untroubled existence.

  3. 03

    get out of bed on the wrong side

    To start the day in a bad mood for no apparent reason.

  4. 04

    get up on the wrong side of the bed

    To feel irritable; to be in a bad mood; to have a bad day from the start, for no particular reason.

  5. 05

    make one's bed and lie in it

    To create a difficult situation whose unpleasant consequences one must now endure.

  6. 06

    marriage bed

    Sexual activity between a married couple.

  7. 07

    put to bed

    To prepare (a newspaper) for printing.

  8. 08

    shit the bed

    Of a person or thing, to fail, often in a complete and irreparable fashion.

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