Proper Wound Care is Very Important for all Nursing Home Residents
We represent a lady who had a wound. The staff at the nursing home where she was a resident just kept wrapping it and wrapping it and wrapping it. She was finally sent to the hospital and the wound had deteriorated dramatically.
If someone you love is in a nursing home, and they have a wound, make sure that the nursing home is following proper wound care guidelines.
Feel free to talk to the doctor and ask questions.
Some wounds should be left open to the air. Some wounds should be covered. Some wound have a wet dressing. Some wounds have a dry dressing. Make sure you know how often the dressing is supposed to be changed. And make sure the nursing home is changing the dressing on a regular basis.
Make sure the wound is being kept clean.
Signs and symptoms of infection include: a bad smell; drainage from the wound; bleeding; the area of the body where the wound is feeling warm; the patient having a fever; the patient being disoriented.
If someone you love has a wound and has any of these signs or symptoms, make sure you talk with the nurses at the facility and/or talk with their doctor.
Nursing homes are obligated to contact a nursing home resident’s family immediately, any time the resident has a significant change in their condition. They are also obligated to contact the resident's doctor every time the resident has a significant change in their condition. If the nursing home where your loved one is a resident is not keeping you abreast of their condition, then you should either speak with the administration and see if that can be changed or consider moving your loved one to another nursing home.
A lot of people claim that it's very difficult to transfer their loved one to another nursing home. The key to that, is to find the new nursing home, and then to work with the new nursing home for the transfer. The nursing home where your loved one is a resident will not be eager to move your loved one as that will cause them to lose the revenue that they receive from your loved one being a resident at their nursing home. However, the new nursing home will be motivated to help you move them to the new nursing home.
A great resource is the medicare.gov nursing home compare web site at the following site. https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html
Using this web site, you can compare all the nursing homes in your area and review their ratings.
If someone you love is a resident of a nursing home and you're concerned about their care, call the attorneys at The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO LAW.
We would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.