3 Things That Can Be Done to Prevent Bed Sores in Nursing Homes
One of the most common complaints in nursing homes around the world is the fact that immobile patients tend to suffer from extremely painful bed sores. Some are not only painful but when infected or left to go untended for any length of time, they can be life-threatening. Sadly, most nursing homes truly try to give their patients the very best of care but there are times when the number of patients outnumber available staff. This is something we saw often during the previous 3+ years of a global pandemic. Whether you are a worker in a nursing home or there helping to care for your loved one, be aware of the serious nature of bed sores and what you can do to help prevent them.
1. Provide an Adjustable Hospital Bed
One of the best ways to help prevent blood from pooling in one location when a patient is left in one position for too long is to use adjustable hospital beds. Actually, that is exactly how bed sores are formed. When a patient is left in one position for too long, the blood pools at the pressure point and this can turn the area necrotic. If you check out the beds on a site like medical-supermarket.com, you will get a better idea of just how these beds can help you reposition a patient with little effort. They not only adjust at the feet and head but there are bed rails to help you turn the patient without fear of rolling them off the bed to one side or the other.
2. Add Cushioning When Prone and Sitting
There are several kinds of cushioning that can help as well. Bear in mind that bed sores, often referred to as pressure ulcers, are the result of blood pooling at a pressure point, so cushioning helps to relieve the pressure to some greater or lesser extent. They can be fitted the length of an entire bed or simply be the size of a seat cushion. Some are inflatable and others are thick foam ‘rubber’ material that spreads the pressure more evenly to ease the discomfort and pressure in a smaller area.
3. Therapeutic Application of Lotion
Once again, let’s refer to the fact that it is being seated or prone in one position for too long a time that allows the blood to pool. What you can do to help prevent bed sores or reduce the seriousness of them if they’re beginning to develop is to apply a soothing lotion. However, it isn’t the lotion alone that does the trick. It’s the massaging it over the area that gets the blood moving about at the same time. The act of gently massaging the lotion into the skin softens the skin but it also literally pushes blood through the veins for a good return to the heart, thereby helping to prevent bed sores.
It goes without saying that every patient is different. Just because one patient can remain in one position for a couple of hours without suffering bed sores doesn’t mean that the patient in the next bed/room won’t need to be repositioned every hour or 90 minutes. Because of this, preventing bed sores can be a real challenge but the above three ‘tips’ should help eliminate much of the problem.
