Bedsores From Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse comes in many forms, including physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and elderly financial exploitation. Sadly, according to experienced nursing home abuse lawyers in Atlanta, one of the most common and potentially deadly signs of nursing home abuse is the development of bedsores. Bedsores are preventable and treatable when identified and promptly diagnosed during their earliest stages, before they become deep, open, and infected. Unfortunately, when nursing home caregivers fail to live up to their legal duty of care to residents, bedsores and the deadly complications associated with bedsores are a common result.
What are Bedsores and How Do They Develop In Nursing Homes?
When a person is bedridden or wheelchair bound, they may experience unrelieved pressure on the weight-bearing portions of their body. This constant pressure deprives the skin cells in the compressed area of oxygen and nutrients, resulting in cell death. A bedsore begins as a small, reddened area, commonly on the buttocks, the backs of the thighs, the heels, the shoulder blades, or the back of the head, all common pressure points for bedridden individuals. If not promptly addressed, a stage one bedsore advances to more serious stages, becoming an open sore.
Alarming CDC statistics show that 2% to 28% of nursing home residents have one or more bedsores.
Why Are Nursing Home Bedsores Potentially Deadly?
Bedsores are entirely preventable with skilled care, including frequent position changes, clean, dry clothing and bedding, and proper hygiene. Unfortunately, many nursing homes do not live up to their legal duty of care to residents due to chronic understaffing, unrealistic resident-to-staff ratios, and inexperienced caregivers. When not promptly identified and treated appropriately, a bedsore progresses from a reddened area on the skin’s surface to an open sore susceptible to infection. In the later stages, a bed sore exposes the layers below the skin’s surface, including the fat, muscle, and bone.
Bedsores in their later stages are excruciatingly painful and require debridement to remove the dead tissue, aggressive antibiotic treatment, and sometimes surgery. Open bedsores are potentially deadly, sometimes resulting in sepsis. Sepsis occurs when the body triggers an overwhelming immune system response to an infection, causing massive inflammation, organ damage, and sometimes resulting in death.
What Types of Nursing Home Abuse Cause Bed Sores?
Bedsores develop due to unrelieved pressure. Nursing home caregivers have a legal obligation to prevent bedsores by assisting bedridden or wheelchair-bound residents with regular positional changes throughout the day and night to ensure adequate blood flow to all areas of the body. The nursing home’s duty of care also requires caregivers to promptly identify bedsores in their earliest stages and treat them appropriately to prevent them from advancing to open wounds. Unfortunately, nursing home caregivers sometimes fail to change a resident’s position often enough to relieve pressure, or they neglect to appropriately treat bedsores to prevent them from advancing to painful and dangerous open wounds. Caregivers must also keep residents in their care clean and dry, with careful attention to personal hygiene and regular bedding changes.
Nursing Home Liability for Advanced or Infected Bedsores
Nursing home caregivers have a legal responsibility to provide adequate nutrition, hydration, medication, and daily care, including preventive measures for bedsores. When a nursing home resident develops bedsores, it’s typically a sign of neglect. Proving liability requires showing evidence that the nursing home staff owed a legal duty of care to the resident, they breached their duty of care through neglect, the breach of duty caused injury, and the injury victim experienced damages from the injury, such as medical care costs, compensation for pain and suffering, permanent scarring, or wrongful death.
How Can an Experienced Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Help?
If you or your aging loved one developed painful or deadly bedsores while in the care of a nursing home or long-term care facility, you have the right to demand financial accountability through a nursing home abuse claim against the caregiver or nursing home administration. Contact an Atlanta lawyer for personal injury lawsuits at Piasta Walker Hagenbush, LLC to learn more about your legal rights.