The failure to prevent wounds and to provide adequate care is nursing home negelct.

In nursing homes and other long-term care settings, it is not uncommon for elderly residents to develop bedsores or suffer from other wounds. Due to age and various medical conditions, nursing home residents are more likely to experience complications or take longer to heal from an injury than younger individuals. Long-term care facilities have a duty to care for all residents, to provide proper care for wounds when injuries arise, and do their best to prevent them from happening.

Some types of wounds that long-term care residents may experience include:

  • Bedsores or pressure ulcers
  • Diabetic ulcers
  • Venous and arterial ulcers
  • Scrapes or gashes from a fall
  • Burn wounds
  • Amputation wounds
  • Postoperative wounds
  • Open wounds from a lack of circulation to a specific area of the body

Nursing Home Neglect

Poor wound care can indicate systemic issues of neglect within a facility. When staff fails to provide residents with regular checkups or examinations, wounds often go unnoticed and cause severe injury and even death. Furthermore, if wounds are not treated correctly, bacteria can spread and may even infect other residents in the facility. Neglect of this scale is usually due to understaffing or a lack of qualified staff.

Wound Prevention and Care

It is imperative that facilities staff qualified caregivers who can treat wounds and avoid future complications. When a resident experiences a wound for any reason, a quality facility should include staff that is responsible for monitoring whether the wound is healing or expanding, becoming infected, or showing any other changes which would require a modification in the treatment plan and care being provided. 

If a loved one is at risk for ulcer development because they cannot walk, is diabetic or has an amputation wound that needs care, a quality nursing home should:

  • Perform daily skin checks
  • Monitor resident weight and nutrition
  • Implement a fluid/hydration program so the resident is given adequate liquids to sustain normal body function
  • Provide adequate nutrition to support healthy skin or wound healing
  • Reposition residents often and provide specialty mattresses, pads or other pressure relieving devices to prevent bedsores

At Hupy and Abraham, we’re experienced in represented victims of elder abuse and neglect in long-term and assisted living facilities. When abuse or neglect is suspected, we encourage reporting the facility to the appropriate state agency or division of quality assurance, and speaking with an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect attorney like Hupy and Abraham.

For more information, download our free Guide for Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Victims.

If you have any questions, or would like to set up a free, no-obligation consultation, contact Hupy and Abraham at 800-800-5678 or start a live chat anytime on the newly designed Hupy.com.