Helping an aging or ailing parent transition to life in an Arizona assisted living facility can be an emotionally turbulent time for an adult son or daughter. You’re faced with the realization that the person who nurtured and cared for you as you were growing up is no longer able to care for himself or herself. If you notice signs of nursing home negligence on your loved one, such as bed sores, it’s even more upsetting.
The medical term for bed sores is decubitus ulcers or pressure ulcers. Avoiding such injuries should always be a top priority for care providers, especially for patients who are immobile, meaning they cannot move around on their own without assistance. If you notice bed sores on your loved one, it merits further investigation.
Bed sores are a red flag issue for nursing home negligence
Noticing bed sores on your loved one’s body when he or she resides in a nursing home is cause for concern. A bed sore is an injury, and this type of injury is often a red flag that a patient is not receiving quality care. Professional care providers receive training to help patients avoid pressure ulcers.
These issues are common causes of decubitus ulcers
Bed sores do not randomly occur on a nursing home patient’s body. The following list includes the most common causes of such injuries:
- Not changing body position often enough
- Urine or feces in contact with skin
- Friction caused by bed sheets pulled out from under a patient
You’ll notice that each of these issues are problems that can arise from nursing home negligence. Especially if your loved one is immobile, care providers are supposed to help him or her change positions every couple of hours. Staff should never let your loved one sit or lie in urine or feces. Also, nursing home staff members know how to properly remove or change sheets without injuring a patient.
Is your loved one in a high-risk group for bed sores?
Some nursing home patients are at greater risk for bed sores than others. Care providers know how to identify them and know what to do to help keep them safe. The following issues would increase risk for bed sores in your loved one:
- Patient is 70 or older
- Obesity
- Confined to bed
- Malnutrition
- Incontinence (lack of bladder or bowel control)
- Health condition (such as diabetes, kidney failure or Parkinson’s disease) that impedes blood circulation
Malnutrition in a nursing home patient is also a possible sign of nursing home negligence. Each of the issues shown in the list creates increased risk for bed sores, which means care providers should take necessary precautions and measures to help a patient avoid bed sores. Do not hesitate to reach out for investigative support if you believe your loved one has suffered injuries due to substandard care in an Arizona nursing home.