Nursing Home Bedsores & Pressure Ulcers
Maryland Lawyer for Patients Suffering from Bedsores & Pressure Ulcers
Less mobile seniors are especially vulnerable to bedsores – also called pressure ulcers – because they can spend hours lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair. If a facility does not follow the proper medical standards and protocols for caring for our elderly, bedsores can develop and lead to additional health complications.
Bedsores are a serious, fast-occurring, and most importantly preventable condition occurring in nursing home residents. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) consider bedsores a “never” event, meaning they are clearly identifiable, preventable, and can result in serious consequences. A never event like bedsores is a major red flag of care provider neglect.
What Causes Bedsores?
Bedsores are often the result of neglect, failure to reposition the patient, improper hygiene, improper procedure, insufficient nutrition, and inefficient or outdated equipment at the facility. Fortunately, most cases of bedsores can be treated before permanent damage has occurred.
These are the four major stages of bedsores:
- Stage 1. The sores will not yet be open wounds. It’s common for the skin to be red, inflamed, and painful to the touch. The redness will not blanch when pressed on it with fingers, as skin normally would rebound.
- Stage 2. The skin will break open, wear away, or will form an ulcer causing the area to become tender and painful. The sore will spread into the deeper layers of the skin. Appearance varies from what seems like a scrape or abrasion, blisters, and then forms a shallow wound in the skin. At this stage, it is possible for certain layers of the skin to be damaged beyond repair.
- Stage 3. The sore worsens and spreads into more tissue beneath the skin, forming a small open wound. Fat may be visible in the sore, but you should not be able to see muscle, tendons, or bones at this stage. Pain may no longer be occurring in stage 3 as the nerves have been damaged.
- Stage 4. The bedsore injury is extremely deep, spreading into muscle and bone causing irreversible/extensive damage. As with stage 3, pain may no longer be occurring as the nerves have been damaged. If the bedsore has not been addressed/resolved before stage 4 occurs, the patient could have damage to deeper tissue, tendons, and even their joints.
Where Are Most Bedsores Located?
Bedsores most often develop on skin that covers bony areas of the body and where these areas come in contact with the chair or bed or where their skin rubs together.
For patients in a wheelchair, pressure sores commonly present themselves in the main contact areas with their wheelchair:
- Buttocks
- Tailbone
- Shoulder blades
- Backs of legs
- Backs of arms
For those who are bedridden, bedsores will often occur along:
- Shoulder blades
- Lower back
- Tailbone
- Hips
- Heels
- Ankles
- Sides and back of the head
