Nursing home residents are at high risk for developing bedsores because they often spend long periods of time in beds and/or wheelchairs and live largely sedentary lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in ten nursing-home residents has a bedsore. This statistic is frightening, revealing that many nursing home residents are not getting the proper attention and care that they need.
Unfortunately, bedsores are a very serious health concern and need to be treated immediately because they can cause infections and other life-threatening injuries when left untreated. This is why it is best to prevent bedsores from forming, which requires frequent movement. Because some nursing-home residents have limited mobility, the nursing-home staff must help these residents move.
Bedsore prevention includes:
- Repositioning someone in a bed every two hours
- Repositioning someone in a wheelchair every 15 minutes
- Avoid laying with a raised head of more than 30 degrees
- Daily cleaning and inspection of the skin
- Keeping skin dry
- Using a pressure reducing mattress for those who remain in bed every day
- Ensuring that diets are nutritionally sound
Because many nursing home residents cannot do the above list of things for themselves, they rely on nursing home staff members to help prevent bedsores, also known as:
- Pressure sores
- Pressure ulcers
- Decubitus ulcer
If your family member has developed a decubitus ulcer, the nursing home staff most likely failed to prevent the bedsore from developing due to neglect. Sadly, ulcers that are left untreated can eventually lead to a wrongful death.
If your loved one developed a bedsore in a Florida nursing home due to negligence and neglect, you need to speak with a Sarasota nursing home abuse attorney at Mallard Perez to find out about your rights. Call 888-409-3805 for a free, no-obligation consultation today.
