Ha, I snuck up on you without you even suspecting that I came in the room. Ha! I did my job and now because of your inadequate staff, and because of you , , because you thought that the staff was there to care for you and to protect you. You thought! Your thoughts are what helped to put you here. Your thoughts are what are going to help me keep my wretched hands around your neck. And your thoughts, if you keep thinking that you are in a good nursing home, are what will kill you eventually, unless you let someone step in and help you. I will kill you if you will just let me. And, if you are in a nursing home that has less than adequate care, I can turn your life into a living nightmare, not just for you but for your entire family and for any good or bad workers that happen to be involved in your care. That is what the average bedsore will say to you if you would just listen to its words and experience IF bedsores could speak.
Pretend you are a bedsore. What would you feel? How would you sneak up on a person? Ah, there are so many ways, but the best way is to have a negligent or missing staff or workers or nurses. But before blaming the nurses, blame the nursing home and hospital owners; blame the ones who will not allow the money to get more staff, to have more workers so that they can eliminate bedsores in their places.
I gripped you one day, the day after you fell. I gripped you one day by the throat, and took you down to the ground. And I continued to develop there on your skin. And just because you were not in severe pain, just because you thought I was just a little sore, a little weakling of a sore, just because of that, I was permitted to begin slowly taking over your body. I began infecting the rest of your body with bedsores so that I could keep you off of your feet. I, the bedsore, will kill you slowly, but not before I make you suffer immensely. I, the mere, little ignored bedsore will suck the rest of the life out of you until you die.
There is someone who is making trouble for me. And that person is making it harder for me to keep gripping patients in nursing homes. That someone is even making it harder for me to grip patients who are in physical rehab and care centers. Who is this person? The guy wrote a book and in that book, he teaches society the importance of taking care of bedsores but even better, he teaches them how to avoid them. This guy has written an entire section in a chapter, all about bedsores. And he is interfering with my work of killing you by slow, annoying, suffering death. I wish he would not have written that book. His book is alerting people as to what is happening inside of nursing homes. In fact, weird thing is, that he is a doctor. What is he doing? Why is he interfering with my job of slowly killing patients inside of nursing homes. Yes, bedsores can kill. The way that bedsores kill is by breaking down skin integrity. Once that happens, that leaves the patient open to all sorts of infections and bacterias and other things. Once the skin is broken and once the bedsores are permitted to exist, it almost always is pretty much downhill from there. Even a friend of mine had her mom die recently and the initial health problem was a mere bedsore. Yes, she blames it on the bedsores. And yes, I, the bedsore, agree. I take responsibility. I take responsibility even when home care workers and health care workers and nursing homes workers will not take responsibility for those bedsores. Look closely at the nursing homes before entering them. Find out how many residents have bedsores and how often.
Back to the doctor, who is he? What does he say about bedsores? According to the fair use doctrine, I can type some of his words here, and so I do, so that you to can see and hear what this doctor has to say. And, I quote him...
According to the United States Agency for Health Care Policy and Research now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, as of 1993, 10 percent of all hospital patients and 25 percent of all nursing home residents develop bedsores during their stay. Empirical data indicate that these percentages are on the rise. Bedsores are usually the result of institutional neglect, and although prevention is difficult, bedsores certainly can be prevented. Now, there is more that he writes in this 231 page paperback book, and I quote that also...
Skin ulcers develop from the weight of the body resting on certain areas of the skin for long periods and from unnecessary friction. A primary responsibility of nurses is to relieve that pressure of weight and to avoid the chafing that comes from dragging the patient's buttocks on the sheet. The fact that such a problem persists in every hospital and nursing home tells us that the nursing profession as a whole has not placed a high enough priority on maintaining skins integrity. To that extent, this particular aspect of nursing is an abject failure. Therefore, you will have to learn what duties nurses owe you and your loved ones so you can insist on those services.
All through the book there are facts and stories about what should or should not happen inside of hospitals and nursing homes. And though this article here is not a book review, I want to take this time to suggest that you read this book just to save a life in the future. Like I said, I am the bedsore that will slowly suck the life out of you, or your loved ones if you just give me a few minutes a day so that I can get a grip on you or them.
Bedsores are probably the second most powerful leaders in hospitals and in nursing homes and you, you the resident, you the family do not even notice me when I come into the room. Tough luck! Had you noticed that I might be visiting you, you might have been able to prevent me. But since your eyes are closed and you were watching in the wrong direction, I can and did take hold. Bedsores reign. Ha, yes it is sad. It is sad that a little sore, a little ulcer can bring an entire human being down to his knees, but those are the facts. Bedsores, left untreated and allowed to develop unnoticed, kill patients. They kill human beings. And so far, not too many workers or families are noticing this. Ah, the doctors know it. But you did not know it , until now.
Watch out for bedsores. Turn and move patients every single two hours-- at least, to try and prevent these sores. Watch. Turn. And most of all, bring it to the attention of the staff should they have missed it.
Do you want to find this book in the library? Just look for the book called, Take This Book To The Hospital With You!
Melinda Thomas is an author who has read and studied psychology for many years. And has attended courses in one of the largest cities in America. Melinda Thomas invites you to share your story. Email her today.
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