One of the duties of an in home care services provider is to make sure a patient stays as healthy as possible under various conditions. The provider needs to make sure the patient is comfortable and their basic needs are met, but when a patient has difficulty getting up and moving around, the care provider will have to take steps to ensure the patient doesn’t get bed sores by sitting and/or lying in one place too long. Here is an overview of how bed sores develop and the steps an in home services care provider can take to minimize the risks that a patient under their supervision will get bed sores.
Bed Sores Development
The problem is that a lot of friction develops when the skin gets pressed between the bones in the body and the surface of a mattress or a chair. The friction causes the skin to deteriorate and this deterioration will lead to lesions forming on the skin. The lesions can ulcerate and become infected until open holes develop where the skin is pressed against the surface of a mattress or chair. If the lesions become infected, the health of the patient can decline and they may need hospitalization and antibiotic treatments to get well.
Preventing Bed Sores
The only effective treatment for avoiding bed sores is to make sure the patient doesn’t sit or lie down in one position for too long. An in home care services provider is trained to gently encourage patients to move around on their own and, if they have great difficulty moving around, to assist them so they don’t fall and hurt themselves. Providers are also trained on how to move patients that are bed-ridden so they don’t stay in one place too long.
Caring for Bed Sores
Even under the best of conditions, bed sores can still develop because it’s not always possible to adequately move patients because of their size or fragile state. In these cases, an in home services care provider is trained to alert the medical staff that bed sores are developing. The medical staff will come to the home and do an evaluation. After the evaluation, a treatment plan will be developed for the care provider to follow to properly care for the bed sores. The treatment plan typically consists of bandages, which are changed frequently, and topical ointments and medications that the patient will take at prescribed times. The service care provider will be trained in bandage removal and replacement techniques to make sure the bed sores are properly covered. The patient and service provider will remain under medical supervision until the bed sores get better or hospitalization is required.
If you want to know more about bed sores and how our trained personnel handles them, you should contact us so we can sit down and explain more fully about how to take care of in home patients to make sure they stay safe and comfortable.
