Wound Care Neglect is Often a Failure to Notice Changes
Wound care neglect can occur in many ways in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Many times the neglect is a failure to notice a change in the skin condition. Wounds in nursing home residents are considered neglect unless clinically avoidable. Oftentimes wounds start as a small, reddened area which does not receive proper attention, and it continues to grow and deepen into a serious issue for the resident.
We know how to hold negligent care providers accountable for their failure to care to provide proper care and treatment for residents.
There are many names for wounds some are surgical wounds after a hip replacement or some other kind of surgery. There are also wounds from pressure or a failure to offload pressure from the body. Vulnerable residents often require turning and repositioning to assure they do not sit on their back or rear for too long of a period.
Untreated Wounds Can Lead to Sepsis - Amputations - Death
Once a wound has started on an elderly person it is often very difficult for them to heal. Depending on the location their body continues to have pressure on the area which was or may have been the underlying cause of the sore. Also, many wounds occur on the Coccyx region and rear end. The need for continuing toileting is also a complicating factor once these wounds start.
According to the CMS Guidance Manual explaining the requirements of 42 CFR 483.25 – Skin Integrity – The care plan should include, for a resident who has skin integrity issues or a pressure injury or is at risk of developing a pressure injury, approaches in accordance with the resident’s choices, including, to the extent possible, attempting to improve or stabilize the skin integrity/tissue breakdown and to provide treatments if a pressure injury is present.
It is critical that residents are given proper nutrition care and supervision to ensure that they do not suffer injury. In the event a wound does occur the facility should send the resident out to a wound clinic when it is obvious that improvement is not occurring. In order to know that the wound is not improving the facility must maintain complete and accurate records of the wound and its characteristics stolen analysis can be made concerning its progress by the nursing staff.
Contact an Experienced Wound Care Neglect Attorney
We have handled many pressure ulcer, skin and surgical wound cases and can help provide you with your options. If you have concerns about improper wound care, sepsis or other care issues in a nursing home or assisted living facility contact attorney Kenneth LaBore for a free consultation at 612-743-9048.
