What Causes Bed Sores?
Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
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Learn What Causes Bed Sores
Bed Sores Are Inexcusable Signs of Nursing Home Neglect
The vast majority of bed sores suffered by residents in nursing homes are preventable with proper care. If you have a loved one in a New Jersey or Pennsylvania nursing home do not accept the excuse that your loved one’s age and/or medical conditions caused their pressure ulcer. Have the cause investigated by an experienced professional.
Brian P. Murphy, Esq. has investigated hundreds of these matters throughout Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, Bucks County, Montgomery County, as well as all over New Jersey, including Mercer County, Camden County, Middlesex County, and Essex County. Mr. Murphy has found in nearly all cases that the bed sores were preventable.
Bed Sores and Unrelieved Pressure
It is important to understand what causes bed sores. When a nursing home resident develops one or more bed sores, concerned family members want to know how it happened. Rarely do they receive the correct information. Bed sores are caused by unrelieved pressure on the body. That is why bed sores are also commonly known in the medical community as pressure sores.
A bed sore develops when a resident is sitting or lying in one position for a prolonged time period and pressure is unrelieved. When questioned, nursing homes would rather attribute the bed sore to the resident’s old age and poor health conditions. Although these factors can contribute to the deterioration of bed sores, they do not create them. Only pressure can create a bed sore.
This Is What Causes Bed Sores
Nursing Homes’ Failure to Relieve Pressure ~ Neglect
There are a number of conditions that put residents at risk for developing bed sores including a resident’s age, weight, medical conditions, and ability to move in his/her bed (bed mobility) or in a wheelchair; however, it is important to understand that none of these risk factors, either alone or together, will cause a bed sore. Every bed sore that develops is the direct result of prolonged exposure to pressure. Relieving pressure is a must for any long-term care or nursing home resident who is at risk for bed sores. It is the duty of each nursing home care center to make sure this is done timely and consistently. If not, nursing home neglect has occurred.
Pressure relief is obtained in a variety of ways. First and foremost, while in bed or sitting in a wheelchair, a long-term care or nursing home resident must be turned or repositioned at least every two hours. If this does not happen and a bed sore develops, the nursing home or facility has neglected the resident. All Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia) and New Jersey nursing homes are also responsible for providing pressure-relieving devices, such as air mattresses, wheelchair cushions, and specialty beds in order to relieve pressure. If these are determined to be necessary and they are not provided, nursing home neglect has occurred.
More Bed Sore Causes
Short-Staffed Nursing Homes ~ Bed Sores
In and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Delaware Valley, long-term care and nursing home corporate owners have a history of intentionally reducing their nursing home staffing levels to keep costs down and profits up. Although this may be a sensible business practice, when taken to an extreme, it places vulnerable nursing home residents at great risk of nursing home abuse and neglect, including the development and deterioration of bed sores.
Elderly nursing home residents who are in continuous need of assistance are commonly neglected when a long-term care center or nursing home facility is short-staffed. Nurses and their nurse aides simply do not have sufficient time to provide proper care. As a result, a wide variety of nursing home neglect and abuse occurs. Bed sore development is one of the most common signs of neglect found in short-staffed area nursing home facilities, such as those in Philadelphia, Trenton, Hamilton, Newark, New Brunswick, Camden, Paterson, Jersey City, and all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
You should know that the vast majority of bed sores that develop at these nursing homes are avoidable if proper care is provided. Stage III bedsores and Stage IV bedsores are recognized by the medical community as “never events” (egregious medical errors that should not happen); however, because some Philadelphia, PA, and NJ nursing home owners place profitability above the well-being of their residents, nursing staff is not available to provide such basic care as turning and repositioning, cleaning and feeding.
Signs of Neglect and Abuse in Nursing Homes
In addition to bed sores, the injuries/incidents below are all common signs of nursing home neglect and abuse.
Contact Attorney Brian P. Murphy for a free detailed discussion about your concerns.
You Need a Skilled Bed Sore Attorney
Pennsylvania and New Jersey Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer, Brian P. Murphy, is highly trained to focus on all aspects of a bed sore case. With years of experience to his credit, Mr. Murphy, knows precisely what to look for and where to find it to determine if you have a valid bed sore case. Get your questions answered.
Contact an Attorney
Brian P. Murphy is an experienced and well-regarded New Jersey and Pennsylvania nursing home abuse attorney. He has successfully represented many elderly nursing home residents subjected to abuse and neglect. Mr. Murphy handles cases throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. If you see signs of nursing home abuse or neglect, take immediate action today. Contact nursing home abuse attorney, Brian P. Murphy, to discuss your potential legal matter.
This website is owned by Attorney Brian P. Murphy. Its purpose is to assist you in understanding your rights, especially when it comes to preventing or protecting yourself and/or your loved ones against nursing home abuse, neglect, bedsores, dehydration, and wrongful death. Legal matters are billed on a contingency fee basis.
Nothing on this website is to be construed as attorney advice or otherwise creating an attorney-client relationship. If you may be interested in establishing a relationship with The Law Firm of Brian P. Murphy, PC, please contact us to discuss your options.