A Bedsore is A Wound

 

You visit your parent and overhear a nurse’s aide tell your mother/father that “the nurse will come in after your visitor leaves and change your dressing”  What dressing!!! 

This may be your first inkling that anything has gone wrong with you parent or grandparent.  You ask questions and learn the truth—your family member has been allowed to develop a bedsore! 

 

Step Two:  Take Action, and Involve The Doctor

No one who comes to a Maine nursing home should develop a bedsore.  Developing a bedsore in a Maine nursing home is supposed to be a “never event”.  It doesn’t matter whether you live in Augusta or Aroostook, Bangor, Portland or Rockland.  A bedsore wound should happen so rarely that the federal government has instructed Medicare and Medicaid not to pay for bedsore treatment. Maine Nursing homes are required to follow these federal laws just like every other state.

 If you parent or grandparent develops a bedsore while a nursing home resident, send a fax to the nursing home and your loved one’s doctor along these lines:

 Dear “X” Nursing Home Administrator and Dr. “Y”:

 When my parent came to you he (she) did not have a bedsore.  I made a special point to ask that you take care that my parent not develop a bedsore.  Under Federal Law (42 CFR Sec. 483.25 you were supposed to make sure that my parent (grandparent) did not develop a pressure sore.  Please explain to me in writing why this happened. Also, please write to me and tell me what you are going to do to provide necessary treatment and services to promote healing, prevalent infections and prevent new sores from developing.

 Thank you for giving this matter your attention.

 Very truly yours,

 Make sure you save the fax transmission record and then call for an appointment with the nursing home director and the doctor to discuss what they plan to do.  When you meet, emphasize that you want them to write back to you, and that a conversation won’t cut the mustard.  Tell the doctor that you want him to personally inspect the wound.  Tell the doctor that you want a written report that tells you:

·        The size of the wound

·        The stage of the wound

·        The treatment he intends to use to heal the wound

·        How he intends to hold the nurses responsible for following his orders.

·        When he intends to inspect the wound next.

·        What pain medication he is going to give to your loved one.

 

These actions, writing and having a meeting, are important steps you can take to make sure that your loved one doesn’t linger, or even die, from a bedsore wound.

Tomorrow–

Step Three: What To Do Make Up For What Can’t Be Fixed About a Bedsore

 

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

Alison Wholey Mynick, R.N., Esq.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bedsore Is A Wound

 

 

There is no need for someone to suffer this fate.

When nursing home staff allow a patient to develop this wound it feels the same to the patient as if they had a deliberately inflicted wound.

Step One: Speak Up, And Leave A Record

What can we do to help our loved one’s nursing home and physician get it right? What can we do to prevent our parents and grandparents from suffering like this?

Let’s start with knowing what this problem is.

Bedsores, Pressure Sores, Ulceration, Skin Wound.  These are all words that are used to mean the same thing.

When your parent or grandparent goes into a nursing home consider doing the following:

Make sure there is a record that your loved one doesn’t have a bedsore.  (If your loved has a bedsore, make sure there is a record of where it is, how wide it is, what it looks like, how long it has been present, and what is being done to treat it.)

What do I mean about making a record?  I don’t mean telling the nice people who take down all the information about you parent or grandparent at the time of admission that you are concerned about the issue. Certainly, do that.  However, I mean something different.  I mean finding out the fax number of the nursing home and your parent’s doctor and faxing both of them a note along these lines:

Dear “X”,

My (mother/father/grandparent) is being admitted to your facility today.  This is to let you know that my (mother/father/grandparent) does not have any decubitus ulcer/pressure sore at this time.  Please take every measure to maintain the good condition/integrity of my (parent/grandparent)’s skin, including careful checking and documentation.  If my (parent/grandparent) should develop a pressure ulcer please notify me in writing of that fact, including the location, size, stage and steps you are taking to care for the wound, including repositioning, wound care and nutrition.  Please make this note a permanent part of my (mother/father/grandparent)’s chart.  Thank you.

Then, fax that letter and save the facsimile transmission record. 

 

 

 

 

 

This first step protects your family member by letting nursing home health care providers know that you are interested in being informed and that you expect them to be accountable for preventing this problem.

Tomorrow– Step Two: Take Action, And Ask The Doctor To Help

Copyright 2009 Briggs & Counsel

Alison Wholey Mynick, R.N., Esq.