When your loved one is a patient in a nursing home, it’s essential to monitor their condition diligently. Nursing home patients are vulnerable and not always able to advocate for themselves.
Pressure sores are a warning sign of nursing home neglect. If you notice your loved one is suffering from bedsores in a Torrington nursing home, get in touch with an attorney at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, immediately. Our lawyers are committed to ending suffering for nursing home patients and holding negligent facilities accountable.
The proper name for a bedsore is decubitus ulcer but they’re also known as pressure sores. They are lesions that develop in the skin when blood pools in an area of the body that is in contact with a bed or wheelchair. Bedsores are most common when someone is confined to a wheelchair or bed and cannot move frequently.
Age is a risk factor for bedsores, and diabetes compounds the risk. Poor nutrition and dehydration can increase the severity of bedsores. When a bedsore develops, it’s an indicator that nursing home staff failed to:
Bedsores can develop quickly and may lead to severe complications. In the worst cases, a patient can develop sepsis and die. Because nursing home patients are already medically fragile and often have mobility problems, it’s critical for nursing home staff to monitor them closely. A bedsore is an indicator that the nursing home has been negligent.
If you discover a loved one has a bedsore, it is important to take immediate action. If your loved one can communicate, ask them whether the sore caused them pain, whether they mentioned it to staff, and when staff discovered it.
Take photographs of the lesion and record notes of everything you learn about when the sore developed and how staff responded. You should write a letter of complaint to the facility Administrator.
Depending on the severity of the bedsore, the facility may need to report it as an adverse event to the state health department, and you could report it to the Connecticut Department of Health Facility Licensing and Investigation Section. Regardless of whether the incident is reported, it is critical for the Administrator to accept responsibility and take clear measures to correct the situation and prevent a recurrence.
When nursing home neglect causes a bedsore, the facility may be willing to negotiate compensation. Depending on your wishes and those of the patient, the compensation could include transferring your loved one to a different facility, as well as a financial settlement.
You could also bring a legal suit for negligence. Because of the nature of bedsores, the fact that a patient developed one while in the facility’s care is evidence of negligence. The patient could be entitled to the cost of additional medical treatment, and money for their pain and suffering.
A Torrington lawyer from D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, could advise you about the best way to proceed. If you decide to take legal action, they will work aggressively to ensure the facility pays a price for your loved one’s suffering.
You are likely heartbroken if your loved one developed bedsores while a patient in a nursing home. You are also likely angry.
Bedsores in Torrington nursing homes are evidence of negligence and neglect. Reach out to the legal professionals at D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, for help holding the facility accountable. We offer free remote or in-person case evaluations, so it’s easy to get started today.
