I need the Straight Dope on bedsores. My mother is 83. She fell and broke her hip in January. She had been in a local hospital for surgery, recovery and therapy for roughly 3 weeks. We knew she had “little raw place” as the nurses called it. However, they never would let us see it. I suppose we could have if we pressed the issue. But, we were always told, “we just changed the dressing”, “its just a little place where the sheet rubbed”, etc.
Yesterday she was transferred to a nursing home for the rest of her therapy. The nursing home informs us that she has 3 bedsores. One of which is a stage 3. Two are on her bottom (including the stage 3 one) and one is on her heel. I have seen it and I am sad and so very angry.
Any doper’s in the house that can give me straight dope bedsores?
Should she be undergoing therapy for the hip while she has these sores?
What type of treatment do I need to ensure she gets?
How long do they usually take to heal?
I am of the opinion that this never should have happened and is likely the result of shoddy care at the hospital. Anyone have enough experience in these matters to know if that is true?
I have to tell you that most nurses I know have not seen a bedsore for many years. All that is required to prevent them is routine physical care and their presence is an indication of poor care. The reason that primary prevention is considered so important is that they are difficult to heal and are a common cause of morbidity in the elderly.
I was nursing nearly 30 years ago (psychiatric nursing) in medical and surgical wards and even then cannot recall allowing a serious pressure sore to occur.
This site offers a realistic view about bedsores although it appears to be a law site.
Usually I would be loathe to agitate about medical matters, but only days ago I had a conversation with a friend who is still nursing and she was expressing her amazement at receiving a transferred patient with pressure sores.
Even without any special aids to prevent sores all that is required is adequate nursing attention with frequent turning and rubbing of bony areas in contact with the mattress.
My husband’s grandmother had one. His sister was taking care of her (inadequately, obviously) and her bedsore was the size of a DOLLAR BILL. I think minor bedsores occur with people who are confined to bed for a really, really long time, but for only three weeks, I think someone needs to speak with the head of the nursing home. My mother was in for over a month before she died, and she was turned numerous times each day. No bedsores.
I work in the administrative side of a nursing home. Older patients have very thin skin so bedsores (decubitis) can develop in a surprisingly short period of time. Occasionally I have to photograph bedsores on a patient transferred from another facility. We do this to protect ourselves by documenting that the patient had the bedsore on arrival. (I really hate having to take a picture of some old person’s butt.) The patients here never get bedsores because they are well cared for. Our nurses routinely heal bedsores caused by careless nursing in the local hospitals and rehab facilities. There is no excuse for bedsores, ever.
You should be angry; especially since it sounds like the nursing staff knew the bedsores were developing.