a preferred embodiment of the invention is now described in detail . referring to the drawings , like numbers indicate like parts throughout the views . unless otherwise specifically indicated in the disclosure that follows , the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale . as used in the description herein and throughout the claims , the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein , unless the context clearly dictates otherwise : the meaning of “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” includes plural reference , the meaning of “ in ” includes “ in ” and “ on .” as shown in fig1 , one embodiment is a selectively illuminated hand rail 100 that includes a support beam 110 , configured to provide a patient with support , and a plurality of wall mounts 120 for securing the support beam 110 to a wall . the hand rail 100 is placed at a height that would be typical for supporting patients in , for example , a hospital room , a restroom , a nursing home or any environment where a person would use a handrail for support . the support beam 110 includes an unlighted patient support member 112 and a light member 114 . the unlighted patient support member 112 may be made of one of many materials that could be employed in a hand rail , including metal , plastic , wood , etc . in one embodiment , it can include an anti - microbial material or an anti - microbial coating . the light member 114 has embedded therein a plurality of downwardly pointing lighting elements 116 , such a light emitting diodes . ( however , it is understood that other types of lighting elements , such as incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lights could be employed without departing from the scope of the invention .) one or more lights 118 may also be placed adjacent the ends of the patient support member 112 to provide guidance to the patient as to where to grab . in one embodiment , these lights 118 are relatively dim lights , such as light emitting diodes , that are left on permanently . also , these lights 118 may also face upwardly ( as shown ) or , alternatively , may face outwardly from the ends of the patient support member 112 or the light member 114 . as shown in fig2 , a touch - sensitive electronic element 210 is embedded in the hand rail 100 . in one representative embodiment , the touch - sensitive electronic element 210 includes a touch sensor 212 ( such as a capacitive touch sensor , a pressure sensor , or one of the many types of touch sensors known to those of skill in the electronic arts ), a switch 216 that is responsive to the touch sensor 212 and a power source 214 ( which could be , e . g ., hard wired to a low voltage dc power source or which could be a battery ). when the touch sensor 212 senses that someone has touched the hand rail 100 , the touch sensor 212 causes the switch 216 to supply power to the lighting elements 116 , thereby illuminating the floor . a timer 218 may also be activated by the touch sensor 212 , causing the switch 216 to stay in a “ on ” state for a predetermined amount of time after the touch sensor 212 senses the touching , thereby preventing the lighting elements 116 from blinking off during brief periods when the patient &# 39 ; s hand is removed from the hand rail 100 . as will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art , the configuration of the touch - sensitive electronic element 210 shown in fig2 is one of many different touch switch systems that may be employed within the scope of the invention . such systems could include , for example , programmable logic arrays or microprocessors to achieve the desired lighting timing . as shown in fig3 a , the hand rail 100 may be employed in a patient care room 300 to provide a patient with support and guidance from a bed 310 to a restroom 320 . in this example , since no one is touching the hand rail 100 in fig3 a , the lighting elements are off . however , as shown in fig3 b , a patient 302 touching the hand rail 100 causes the lighting elements to illuminate that area 330 under the hand rail 100 , thereby providing the patient 302 with greater stability and confidence , while lessening the potential for the patient 302 to slip , trip or fall . one example of a system 400 including a hand rail 410 mounted on a wall 402 is shown in fig4 . in this embodiment , the electronic circuits 412 used to control the lighting are contained within the hand rail 410 . this example also employs a strut 420 to provide added vertical support to the hand rail 410 . in other embodiments , the hand rail and its mounting elements can be built of materials of sufficient strength so as not to employ a strut . an example of an electrical device 500 employed in one embodiment is shown in fig5 . this embodiment is powered by a 24 v dc wall input to power light emitting diodes ( leds ) through a printed circuit board . this device lessens the potential for physical injury , adverse psychological effects , extended hospital stays , litigation , and even fatality because many patient falls occur at night or during dim conditions . also , many falls occur while an unassisted patient is walking or getting out of bed to go to the bathroom . an added advantage is that the invention provides a visual cue to healthcare staff of when a patient is attempting to exit the bed and moving to or from the bathroom without assistance . one embodiment facilitates the relationship between patient bed and the bathroom in a typical patient room afforded by a canted headwall . inboard bathrooms ( near the corridor ) and near the patient bed allow the staff to easily view the patient from the hallway during nursing rounds . the bathroom arrangement gives patients a wider view to the outdoors and closer proximity to the bathroom . the above - disclosed device would complete this or any other patient bedroom design ensemble by offering the peace of mind afforded by a clear and reliable means to egress a bed or access a bathroom during dim conditions either night or day . the avoidance of litigation resulting from a single injury and / or trauma to a patient could likely outweigh the cost of outfitting an entire facility . the above described embodiments , while including the preferred embodiment and the best mode of the invention known to the inventor at the time of filing , are given as illustrative examples only . it will be readily appreciated that many deviations may be made from the specific embodiments disclosed in this specification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the scope of the invention is to be determined by the claims below rather than being limited to the specifically described embodiments above .