Sadly, the development of pressure sores during an admission to a nursing home has become a way of life at some facilities. Despite their prevalence, they are simply not a consequence of ‘old age’. Rather, the majority of circumstances where a patient develops a pressure sore during a nursing home admission is a result of the facilities inattention to the individuals’ care needs.
Today, we see some of the most vulnerable members of society living in shameful conditions that significantly increase their chances of developing pressure sores. Many of these poor conditions include:
- Patients left in bed or wheelchairs for extended period of time
- Chemically sedated patients
- Patients sitting in their urine and feces
- Patients not getting sufficient nutrition or hydration
A legal duty to protect nursing home patients
The prevention and treatment of pressure sores during admission to nursing homes is not just humane, it is also the law!
In 1987, Congress passed The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) with the intention of protecting nursing home patients from inferior care and neglect. In exchange for acceptance of Medicare funding (which funds over 90% of nursing homes), facilities must implement and comply with federal regulations pertaining to the development of pressure sores at their facilities.
The regulations, commonly referred to as ‘F-Tags’ govern all aspects of nursing home care. F-Tag 314 (codified as 42 C.F.R.483.25(c)), specifically relates to pressures sores (also referred to as: bed sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers):
Based on the comprehensive assessment of a resident, the facility must ensure that:
(1) A resident who enters the facility without pressure sores does not develop pressure sores unless the individual’s clinical condition demonstrates that they were unavoidable; and
(2) A resident having pressure sores receives necessary treatment and services to promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing.
Even with these clearly delineated responsibilities, nursing home patients are at risk for developing pressure sores due to facilities inadequate care. Today, many nursing homes have elected to put their corporate profits over the care of their patients. Under-staffing and inadequate training has become rampant in the industry.
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers has successfully prosecuted cases involving the development of pressure sores during nursing home admissions and is well versed in using all applicable state and federal laws to prosecute our clients cases.
Related Materials From Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers:
A pending wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia, claims that a nursing homes poor care resulted in the development of pressure ulcers. It is alleged that the pressure sores eventually became so infected that they necessitated the amputation of the woman’s leg and eventually caused her death.
Like many families, the deceased woman’s daughter brought her mother to Rockmart Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from a different nursing home in order to bring her closer to her home. Unfortunately, her admission to Rockmart quickly brought about a variety of health problems during her three month admission….(continue reading via the link above)
It seems like I frequently receive bursts of telephone calls from clients regarding problems at certain nursing homes.
Sure, it could simply be a coincidence that these folks decided to give a call about problems at the facility– at roughly the same time– but a closer evaluation of the circumstances typically reveals that many of the similar complaints are indeed related to significant care-related problems at the facility….(continue reading via the link above)
Caring for nursing home patients is hard work! Caregivers must be dedicated to invest the necessary time and effort to assure the medical, personal and psychological needs of their patients are met. When caregivers fail to provide necessary care, patients begins to suffer. Compared with an affirmative act (such as nursing home abuse), nursing home neglect truly implies that some one is not doing their job.
Nursing home neglect is a general term that encompasses many different situations that commonly result in patient injury or even death….(continue reading via the link above)