A patient support apparatus includes a support structure having a patient support deck and a side rail coupled to the support structure. The side rail is movable relative to the support structure. A lock releasably locks the side rail in one or more side rail positions, such as in a raised position and an intermediate position. A manual release is coupled to the side rail and operable to unlock the side rail. A bypass lever is provided to allow a user to raise the side rail from a lowered position to the raised position without locking in the intermediate position. A damper is located inside the side rail to counterbalance the weight of the side rail and assist the user in raising the side rail, bi-directionally. The side rail is formed of first and second walls that are heat staked together to form a lightweight side rail of suitable strength.