As a New Jersey and Philadelphia nursing home abuse lawfirm, we have frequently posted on many topics involving nursing home abuse and, in particular, pressure ulcers and bed sores. In this next series of posts, we will provide nursing home patients and their families with tips that may help prevent pressure ulcers and bedsores from ever developing in the first place. The old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is not an exaggeration when it comes to the prevention of nursing home abuse in the form of pressure ulcers and bedsores.
Tip #1 for Avoiding Bedsores
Tip 1: Make sure the nursing home has properly assessed the potential risk for a bedsore and pressure ulcer. Part of the law that governs nursing homes, 42 C.F.R. 483.25(c), relates to bed sores (also referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers):
Based on the comprehensive assessment of a resident, the facility must ensure that:
(1) A resident who enters the facility without pressure sores does not develop pressure sores unless the individual’s clinical condition demonstrates that they were unavoidable; and
(2) A resident having pressure sores receives necessary treatment and services to promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing.
Nursing home abuse lawyers will always tell you that a bed sore or pressure ulcer risk assessment is the first preventive method for any patient in a nursing home or an assisted living facility. All bed-bound or chair-bound patients in a nursing home or nursing home patients whose ability to reposition themselves is impaired, are to be considered at a risk for pressure ulcers. As a nursing home patient, or the family member of a nursing home patient, the first thing you should do is ask the nursing home if they have assessed the potential risk of developing a pressure ulcer or bedsore in the chart.
What is the Braden Scale?
All nursing homes use the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk to help identify nursing home patients who are at a high risk for the development of pressure ulcers or bed sores. As a nursing home patient or family member or a nursing home patient, you should ask to see the nursing home chart to determine what Braden Scale level of risk has been assigned to you or your loved one. A Braden Scale score of 12 or less is considered to by a “high risk” for that patient to develop a bed sore or pressure ulcer in a nursing home.
If the nursing home has not assigned a high risk for a pressure ulcer, bed sore or pressure sore to a nursing home patient, you should ask the nursing home why. This is the first step any nursing home patient should take to prevent a bedsore or pressure ulcer from ever developing.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one has acquired a bedsore or pressure ulcer at a nursing home, you should seek the counsel of a nursing home abuse lawyer. You can contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Look for future posts from a New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyer on other preventive measures to prevent the development of pressure ulcers and bedsores.
In our recent 
Patrick Carson is a schizophrenic who has spent most of his life in care facilities and rehab institutions. He was in his sixties when he entered the Burien Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in King County, Washington, and reports from the home show he also suffers from dimentia and heart disease. In October, 2009, Carson fell out of his bed and landed near a baseboard heater positioned dangerously close to his bed. His left leg landed directly on the heater. He laid there long enough to sustain 
These pressures ulcers and bedsores can be caused by nursing home abuse such as:
As a New Jersey and Philadelphia 
This post is the third in a series of posts dealing with the most common form of nursing home abuse – the development of pressure ulcers and bedsores. In our previous two posts, we discussed the 
As nursing home abuse lawyers, we typically will not be called in to investigate a nursing home abuse case involving a patient with Stage I ulcer as these bedsores, if treated promptly and correctly, rarely cause a nursing home patient to needlessly suffer. However, a Stage I pressure ulcer or bedsore is medically significant. Nursing home staff and medical personnel must be trained to carefully assess and identify any nursing home patient who has a potential Stage I bedsore or pressure ulcer. Although prevention is the best medicine for a bedsore or pressure ulcer, if a nursing home fails to prevent a bedsore or pressure ulcer, the next best step is early detection.
According to a recent report by the American Association for Justice, civil lawsuits help uncover 
