When nursing home staff members don’t do their job well or their care plans aren’t particularly effective, patients can end up with painful bedsores. These sores aren’t just physically painful — they can also lead to legal trouble for the facility taking care of the patient. This is where nursing home bedsore lawsuits come in.
If a patient gets bedsores because of neglectful care, they or their family can take legal action. Instead of putting up with bad care, they can file an elder abuse lawsuit against the nursing home. State laws have clear rules about how caregiving facilities, like nursing homes, should prevent bedsores. If they don’t follow these rules and bedsores still happen, the nursing home has to take responsibility for any harm that’s been caused. In this article, we’ll be covering everything you need to know about nursing home bedsore lawsuits. Let’s get started!
What Causes Bed Sores in Nursing Homes?
Bedsores, which are also called pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers, happen when there’s constant pressure being put on the skin. The worst bedsores tend to occur when the nerves and blood vessels are harmed. When left untreated, bedsores can lead to nasty infections, which can sometimes be life-threatening.
Most often, bedsores happen to people in nursing homes who can’t feel or move their lower body due to conditions like paraplegia. Bedsores usually show up on bony areas of the body — like knees, elbows, or buttocks — or where a person is in contact with a hard surface for a long period of time.
Bedsores can also occur when a patient doesn’t get proper care for other health issues, like malnutrition, kidney disease, or urinary tract infections. The sad thing is, most of the time, bedsores are preventable. Are you wondering what exactly causes bedsores in nursing homes? Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common causes below.
Caregiver Neglect
When seniors in a nursing home get bedsores, it may mean that there’s a fair amount of caregiver neglect going on. Basically, if the nursing home staff is spread too thin, they might not be able to provide the residents with the care they need. This can result in bedsores, and we’ll be talking about the specific reasons why below.
One big reason that older adults in nursing homes get bedsores is that they’re not being given enough food and water. Malnutrition and dehydration make an older person’s already vulnerable skin thin and dry — which increases the likelihood of bedsores.
Another issue is how staff members handle and move residents. If they’re not careful, or if they’re rushing due to time constraints, it can cause friction on the skin, making bedsores more likely to happen. This is especially bad for seniors who can’t move much or have sensitive skin.
Furthermore, bedsores tend to happen in nursing homes because immobile residents aren’t being moved and repositioned enough. When a person stays in one position for a long period of time, it puts a lot of pressure on their skin, which can cause bedsores. To make matters worse, if neglectful nursing home staff members do notice stage 1 bedsores on residents, they may simply ignore the issue.
Pressure
Bedsores commonly occur when there’s continuous pressure on the skin. If someone stays in the same position for too long, the skin can get squeezed between the bone and the surface they’re lying or sitting on (i.e. a bed, chair, or wheelchair). This squeezes the blood vessels, making the blood flow slow down or stop. As a result, the skin doesn’t get enough oxygen and nutrients and bedsores can form.
Bedsores typically happen in body parts with less muscle or fat because these areas lack good blood flow. In just a few hours, the skin in these spots can start to die due to the limited blood supply. Over time, the damage goes deeper into the tissues. For elderly people who can’t move around much, this is an especially big issue. If the nursing home staff doesn’t reposition them regularly, they might end up sitting or lying in one position for a long time.
Shear
Shear, another cause of bedsores, happens when two surfaces move in opposite directions. In nursing homes, this can harm residents if their skin moves one way while their bones move another, stressing the blood vessels and depriving healthy tissue of proper nutrients.
In care facilities, shear may occur when staff helps residents move. Elderly people with limited mobility might need assistance going from one place to another, like from a wheelchair to a bed. It’s incredibly important for staff to be careful during these movements because if residents aren’t moved gently, their skin can shear.
Shear can also happen when residents are sleeping. For example, if a patient slides down the bed during sleep, their tailbone moves while the skin over it stays in place. Those who need their head elevated while in bed are also at risk of shear.
To prevent shear, residents should sleep with their heads raised at a 30-degree angle or lower. When staff needs to reposition a resident, it’s always better to lift them instead of pulling or dragging them to avoid causing shear on the skin.
Friction
Older adults in nursing homes face a significant risk of bedsores due to friction, as their skin tends to be more delicate and prone to injury. Similar to other factors that lead to bedsores, friction can damage blood vessels. This, in turn, can hinder proper blood flow, which means the skin won’t be getting all of the nutrients it needs.
In order to prevent damage from friction, seniors with limited mobility should be regularly repositioned by trained staff members. It’s also important that their bed sheets are changed regularly, and are kept in good condition. Any crumbs, random particles, or even folds in the sheets can cause skin irritation.
How Long Does it Take to Resolve a Nursing Home Bedsore Lawsuit?
How long it takes to wrap up a nursing home bedsore lawsuit depends on whether it’s settled out of court or goes to trial. Statistics show that around 95% of personal injury cases, including bedsore lawsuits, get settled without ever having to go to trial. In these situations, the nursing home abuse law firm talks with the insurance company to work out a settlement — typically covering things like medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, disability, and other damages.
However, if your case does go to trial, several factors can affect how long it will take to sort things out. You’ll need to consider the details of your case, the availability of witnesses and evidence, the strength of the defense’s arguments, and the testimonies from expert witnesses like doctors and financial accountants. Going to trial means presenting all of this evidence in front of a judge and jury, which will make the whole resolution process take much longer.
Proving a Nursing Home Bedsore Negligence Lawsuit
Nursing home negligence lawsuits often stem from bedsores, as these injuries can be evidence of inadequate care by the nursing home staff. In order to win a lawsuit related to nursing home bedsores, the person filing the case must demonstrate that the nursing home was, in fact, negligent in either not preventing the bedsore from forming or failing to treat it properly once it developed on the resident’s skin.
Many bedsore lawsuits argue that the nursing home in question was negligent by not taking steps to avoid pressure wounds, such as regularly moving residents who can’t move themselves to maintain proper blood circulation. Nursing homes have a responsibility to prevent their residents from getting bedsores, so filing a lawsuit tends to be a good way to hold these facilities accountable.
The definition of “regularly moving” a resident can vary depending on the situation, but in many cases involving nursing homes, it’s clear that these facilities often neglect to provide the necessary care to residents. This neglect can result from factors like not having enough staff or simply not paying enough attention to residents.
Of course, there’s no excuse for ignoring a resident’s bedsore or not taking the preventative measures to make sure bedsores don’t happen in the first place.
Final Thoughts
If you notice that your loved one in a nursing home is suffering from a bedsore (or multiple bedsores), you should report the situation to the staff right away. Bedsores are treatable, but they’re much easier to treat in the early stages. If the nursing home staff fails to give your loved one the medical attention they need, you should definitely consider filing a lawsuit.
Once again, filing a nursing home bedsore lawsuit is a great way to hold the nursing home accountable and make sure that your loved one is getting the care they need. Call now to learn more about filing a claim.
