A Bedsore, also known as a pressure sore or pressure ulcer, is defined by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel as a localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue, usually over a bony prominence, as a result of pressure, or pressure in combination with shear and/or friction.
In laymen’s terms, it’s a wound that forms when someone spends too much time in a bed without moving or changing position.

Bedsores or Pressure Sores are often located on bony prominences because these places suffer the most from oxygen deprivation due to lack of blood flow. Think of when your leg falls asleep after you’ve been sitting on it for a while. You move your leg to allow the blood to return to it.
But a bedridden patient that is unable to move themselves must be cared for meticulously, being moved and turned every two hours, to keep areas like the lower back, heels, and elbows, from becoming oxygen deprived.

Bedsores are a sure sign of nursing home abuse and negligence. Residents that are bedridden are automatically high risk bedsore patients. Care plans must be developed that include the routine 2 hour repositioning of these high risk, bedridden patients.

The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel: Four Stages of Bedsores.

– Stage I: Redness in a localized area, usually over a bony prominence. The area may be painful, and either firmer or softer, or warmer or cooler than the surrounding tissue.

– Stage II: A shallow, open ulcer that can be red or pink. This stage may also present itself as serum-filled blister.

– Stage III: Advanced tissue loss. Fat may be visible but bone, tendon or muscle are not exposed.

– Stage IV: Full thickness tissue loss with exposed bone, tendon or muscle.

Bedsores & Nursing Home Abuse in NJ or PA: Mininno Law Office

Bedsores are prone to infection can prove fatal for some patients. They can cause unwanted and unneccesary complications to a patients’ health, and are completely avoidable.
The New Jersey nursing abuse attorneys at the Mininno Law Office are here to get you the compensation you deserve.

If you or a loved one have suffered to the acquisition of a bedsore during a stay at a hospital or long term care facility, you’ll need to assistance of a nursing home abuse attorney. Contact the Mininno Law Officefor a free case evaluation or call at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.