By Nursing Home Law Center
The most common cause of decubitus ulcers, otherwise known as bed sores or pressure sores, is lack of mobility. If a person stays immobile in a position for too long, areas of soft tissue are under pressure for long periods of time, which can cause loss of blood circulation to the area thus developing a bed sore.
These ulcers or sores are more common in immobile patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Their immobility can be due to many different illnesses, but they are all at risk of developing decubitus ulcers. Some illnesses can put people at a higher risk of developing ulcers, and sometimes diet can have an impact on the probability of ulcer development. If the patient has cancer, diabetes, heart issues or other immuno-suppressive ailments, the healing of the ulcer can also be compromised.
Nursing staff in hospitals and nursing homes are usually understaffed and do not have the time to care for their patients properly. Many times, bed sores are left unnoticed and untreated for long periods of time. When the area becomes infected, serious attention is required and by this time, the patient has suffered a lot of pain.
A technology company has developed a bed monitoring system, the Mobility Monitor, which tracks a patient’s movement and will alert a nurse when the patient needs to be repositioned. There is no practical way for a nurse to monitor a patient 24/7. With this machine, nurses will be better aware of how much the patient has moved, and hen they need to be moved again to reduce the risk of bed sores. A monitoring system is essential in preventing an immobile patient from being plagued by the pain of decubitus ulcers.
This movement monitoring system solves many problems that nursing homes and hospitals have faced regarding bed sores. During the night, the nurses do not like to disturb the patient, and therefore will not move them while they are sleeping. Nurses also tend to get busy during the day and may neglect a patient for some time. With this monitoring system, a complete record of the patient’s movements is available, and repositioning of the patient is administered in a timely manner. Nurses are busy with the demands of other patients and duties. This monitoring system also has an alerting system, which will alert nurses when the time since the last move has been too long.
Advancements in medical technology have significantly improved the health care of individuals. This monitoring system is an example of companies working hard to find solutions to medical issues that can easily be prevented. The company, which created this system, has a long run plan of creating a bed system that mimics the movements a healthy person would make. This would move the patient automatically, and therefore reduce the risk of bed sores dramatically. Nurses would not have to disturb patients when sleeping or resting. There is always room for constant improvement, and this new form of hospital bed monitoring will be the beginning to a healthier tomorrow for immobile patients.
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