As New Jersey and Philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers, we are continuing this series of tips to prevent bed sores in nursing home patients. Bed bugs can also cause sores on your body, read these bed bug mattress cover reviews, and get you or someone in a nursing home one. We have recently focused on the importance of repositioning, as well as the use of the proper support surfaces. Today’s tip concerns the importance of devices to help protect the bony prominences, such as tailbone, heels, ankles, and knees from bed sores and pressure ulcers.
Tip #11 for Bed Sore Prevention
Bed sores result from prolonged pressure that prevents proper blood flow to tissues, which, in turn, kills that tissue. The death of this tissue most often occurs when it is compressed between a bony prominence and an external surface, i.e. bed, wheelchair, or sometimes even other parts of the body. Some of the worst bed sores that occur in nursing home patients don’t even occur from those that are bed ridden as the name suggests. Prolonged sitting in a wheelchair can lead to bed sore development. It is important that nursing home staff members are equally vigilant with their nursing home patients in wheelchairs and in beds.
Using pillows or foam wedges to keep the bony prominences from direct contact with each other can be helpful. Skin that is subjected to devices should also be padded and inspected regularly to make sure that no bed sores are forming. The lack of such inspection and care would be considered nursing home abuse. Just the placement of a simple pillow under the calves to raise the heels from the bed can sometimes be enough to prevent bed sores from forming, and it can help with the treatment of those bed sores that have started to form. These simple steps can be the difference between a nursing home patient that develops a horrible bed sore and one that does not. As always, prevention is the best medicine in bed sore and pressure ulcer cases.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is a resident at a nursing home or long term care facility and you believe that they are receiving inadequate and sub-standard care, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. Our nursing home abuse lawyers are hardworking and very dedicated to earning victimized patients and families the compensation they deserve. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Let the Mininno Law Office team earn you your full and fair compensation.