Riverside Nursing Home Bed Sore Lawyer

Riverside County is home to roughly 250 assisted living facilities, along with hundreds of nursing homes, all which house elderly county residents who are in need of assistance in some capacity. Many of these folks are not fully mobile, meaning they have difficulty getting up from a chair or bed in order to walk around, or are wheelchair bound altogether. This limitation is one that assisted living facilities and nursing homes are familiar with and should have the proper protocols in place to help assist residents. When facilities fail to move patients often enough or help them shift from side to side if bed bound, bed sores (aka pressure sores or decubitus ulcers) can begin to develop. Bed sores are described as an injury to the epidermis (skin) or its underlying tissue that forms as a result of prolonged pressure on that area of the skin. These sores progress rapidly and can go from a bruise to a life-threatening injury in a matter of weeks. Death cases involving bed sores are worst case scenario, yet a situation that Riverside bed sore attorneys see quite frequently.

An Intermediate Care Facility by the name of Evergreen Estates in Riverside County, California, received an A Citation in 2017 for a series of matters relating to a resident that ultimately led to unnecessary pain and suffering for the patient. One of the areas of negligence was regarding pain management and treatment of a bed sore that the patient had acquired due to her immobility. The CNA’s at the Riverside facility explain that the resident used to cry out in pain when the bed sore dressing was being changed, or even when she would adjust her position in a chair or bed. The CNA’s brought this matter up to the RN at the facility and asked for a stronger pain reliever for the patient, but their requests were ignored or not followed up on. This led to the patient enduring severe pain that could have been managed with pain relievers, or a situation that could have been prevented altogether, had the patient been shifted around properly to prevent the bed sore from forming in the first place. Aside from moving patients around, there are a series of steps that nursing homes and assisted living facilities can take to prevent bed sores from forming, some of these include:

• Repositioning (in bed or chair) or relocating residents to another area
• Integrating foam padding and pillows when seated
• Checking for and ensuring clothing and bedding is not wet or moist
• Checking up on residents throughout the day
• Paying special attention to patients who are particularly immobile (and therefore at a higher risk of forming the lesions)
• Encouraging residents to lie at a 30-degree angle (which reduces pressure on susceptible areas such as the coccyx and underside of legs/heels)

There are four stages that bed sores are categorized as, the first stage being the least serious, often appearing as a bruise with little to no skin tears. The stages progress in intensity, with each stage bringing a patient closer to the possibility of infection or serious injury. The fourth stage is the most severe, creating an ulcer that is very deep and is often reaching to the muscle or bone. This stage can lead to nerve damage and serious infection that can be life threatening. The resident in the Riverside County nursing home was described as having an ulcer that was deep, infected, and excruciatingly painful. With these categorizations, we can assume that the bed sore was in a later stage of the four. The home’s negligence in this matter is a situation that Riverside County nursing home bed sore attorneys unfortunately see time and time again.

Have you suspected that a loved one has been the victim of a nursing home bedsore complication in Riverside? If so, call the office or contact an attorney today at Walton Law Firm to schedule a free case evaluation with one of our experienced Riverside bed sore lawyers now.