By Nursing Home Law Center
Thomas Dekker called sleep “the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.” However, an excess of bed rest is anything but conducive to physical well-being; it can create new problems even as a patient is trying to recuperate from others. Sometimes, people with injuries or conditions preventing them from changing position or requiring them to lie/sit in place for prolonged periods develop pressure ulcers, or bedsores from prolonged pressure on some part of the body whereon a large allocation of a person’s weight rests. Persons of any age quartered in health care facilities and rest homes are at a particular risk for acquiring bedsores where adequate measures have not been taken against their formation.
Bedsores constitute a double whammy when their incidence not only causes additional suffering, but inhibits the patient’s ability to heal from their cause for being bedridden in the first place. If the patient has osteoporosis or a spinal cord injury, the prescribed bed rest may worsen their condition considerably. For these reasons, it is crucial that the professionals answerable for the well-being of a bedridden or wheelchair-bound individual keep constant tabs on their status to make sure that there are no bedsores in the works.
Avoidance of bedsores involves perpetual, conscientious care; but this is not service that it would be unreasonable to expect a care facility or hospital to render. The task of protecting a patient from further injury is, in this case, a simple one, and there is no reason to neglect it. A patient must be inspected for redness or dampness so that bedsores can be stopped before they start, turned often to rotate pressure points, strategically cushioned to ease the strain on areas of compression, given fresh sheets periodically so that their coverlets don’t bunch up, massaged to promote circulation, and hydrated to moisturize and strengthen their skin. Neglect of preventative procedures is not a trifling matter; it can cause a patient serious discomfort and an inability to recover from their ailment.
When a patient is neglected or mistreated by the very people who are entrusted with their care, it may be appropriate to file a lawsuit against them. Because lawsuits are complex and time-consuming, many people opt to hire a personal injury attorney to represent them or their loved one. Personal injury attorneys know the system well enough not to fall victim to the mistakes people make when trying to plead their own case. When compensation for wrongdoing is on the line, enlisting the help of the professional makes sense.
When a person enters a care facility, they naturally expect to be healed. When the healing process has been delayed by maltreatment, the only thing to do is seek compensation (the greater part of which is to be obtained with the help of a personal injury attorney) and take your business elsewhere—someplace where recovery will be facilitated, and not obstructed.
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