When nursing facility patients are not properly positioned and rotated regularly, bedsores can develop quickly over time. They occur more often than many Georgia residents understand, and many times, they develop with little to no knowledge from others. This is especially true under current conditions of restricted visitation by concerned individuals as well as immediate family.
Proving negligence
While waiting for significant periods of time to turn a patient can easily be negligence on the part of a nursing facility, some patients have medical conditions that can contribute to them quickly developing bedsores. Also known in the industry as pressure sores, they typically move through four stages of worsening. Stage 1 is effectively a rash on the external skin layer, which generally does not constitute nursing home negligence. Negligence is more associated with the condition as it worsens with no attention.
Long-term development
While some nursing home patients may have a condition that exacerbates the occurrence of pressure sores, most serious cases are ones in which the nursing staff has repeatedly failed in its duty to tend to the sores medically and not rotate the patient in a timely fashion. Patients can quickly worsen to later stages of pressure sore development associated with broken skin and infection when sores are not promptly located and treated, which is a definite sign of actual nursing home negligence.
Anyone who visits a friend or family member who is immobile while interned in a nursing home should pay close physical attention to him or her as much as it is possible. Additionally, if someone is communicating that he or she is not being properly cared for, it is best to further investigate what may be happening and assess the need for further action.
