Nursing Home Bedsores

Entrusting a parent to a nursing home is a big decision to make. It is not an easy one, either. Many times it can be difficult to entrust a nursing home with a parent or relative. Many of these nursing homes are perfectly fine and do not have any problems with them. However, some do, and they can leave terrible consequences on the elderly.

A bedsore can go by a couple of different names. They are also known as pressure sores. They are caused because of pressure that has been on the skin for too long. Typically, you’ll see this in situations where someone has been in a bed or wheelchair for a long time without moving. When someone is confined to the same position for a prolonged period of time, blood stops coursing through the body, including to the skin, depriving the skin of oxygen, which in turn causes terrible sores.

HOLDING THE NURSING HOME ACCOUNTABLE FOR BEDSORES

After discovering a loved one has terrible bedsores, you are understandably upset and want to hold the nursing home accountable. Part of this process involves making sure you are properly bringing a claim against the nursing home. The primary reason, or cause of action, is to allege that the nursing home was negligent in making sure your parent or the elderly person in terms of how they were treated.

To win on a negligence ground, you have to show that the nursing home had a duty to the elderly person, that this duty was breached, and that injuries resulted from this breach. In a case where an elderly person has bedsores, you have to show that the nursing home had a duty to keep the elderly person free of bedsores. This should not be challenging. However, the nursing home may argue that the elderly person was somehow predisposed to bedsores and they were not at fault. Then you must show that the duty was breached, meaning you have to come up with evidence to show that the bedsores were directly related to the nursing home failing to properly care for the elderly person, which normally means they failed to properly turn over the elderly person or take them out of the wheelchair.

And finally, you have to show that the elderly person’s bedsores came directly from the negligence of the nursing home, as opposed to some other reason. Typically, you will bring a claim of negligent of supervision as well, since the nursing home had a duty ensure they properly supervised the elderly person. You may also want to bring a claim of negligent hiring if it appears that the nursing home was under-staffed, or staffed with employees who simply had not been trained and were not experienced enough to care for the elderly person. The Jackman Law Firm can help you and bring the appropriate lawsuit against the nursing home.