Entrusting your loved one to a nursing home is one of the most difficult decisions many people will make. However, some simply do not have the facilities, expertise or time that needs to go into caring for the elderly.
Unfortunately, though, some of these nursing homes have people within them who would break the trust between patient and caretaker. One injury could potentially give these people away.
How do bedsores form?
Johns Hopkins discusses bedsores and the way they feature in nursing homes. Bedsores, or pressure ulcers, form when too much pressure gets placed on one area of the body over an extended period of time. These sores can form in as little as two to three hours and often occur in people who have low mobility or live in bedridden states. This is due to the fact that they cannot move on their own and thus cannot shift their positions in bed.
A potential sign of neglect
Bedsores can form on patients in even the most diligent of settings. However, frequent bedsores or bedsores that look particularly bad could indicate that a patient is suffering from neglect.
Nurses and care staff should be moving immobile or low mobility people once every two hours in order to prevent bedsores and similar problems from occurring. Thus, if bedsores persist and continue to appear, it means that the victim is likely being left immobile for three hours at a time or more.
Bedsores could be the first of many red flags and might serve as an indicator that it is time to do some deeper digging into the facility itself.
