Two of the most common ways nursing home residents are burned is when they are bathed in scalding water or placed too close to heating units in the nursing home. Chemical burns and cigarette burns can also be a threat to residents, although to a lesser extent. Regardless of how the burn occurs, burns to nursing home residents can be painful, severe, and life threatening. Negligent conduct by a nursing home and its employees is the leading cause as to why a nursing home resident suffers burns on his or her body.
Heater Burns
Because older bodies don’t retain heat like younger bodies, elderly are often cold. Consequently when a nursing home resident is cold, you may see them with extra blankets to stay warm. You may also see residents moved closer to the room heater or a portable heater placed in their room. While moving a resident close to a heater may be well-intentioned, it can be very dangerous if the residents are placed too close to the heater or left too long. A resident who is too close to a heater for too long may suffer severe burns or actually catch fire. Good intentions are commendable, but good intentions must also be combined with safe conduct.
Scalding Burns
When a new parent gives an infant child a bath, they test the water to make sure it will not scald the baby’s skin. In a sense, a nursing home resident’s skin may be just as delicate, if not more so. Likewise, when bathing an elderly resident, nursing home employees must be aware just how delicate their skin may be. For some, this may not be obvious, so it is up to the nursing home and its related corporate home office to train those who are given the important responsibility of bathing the elderly residents. Included in the training should be the appropriate temperature for bathing residents. Far too often, residents suffer serious burns after they are placed in scalding water or left alone for long periods of time in water that is too hot.
How to make keep nursing home residents from being burned
Training is the key. Nursing home employees must be regularly trained to understand that the skin of elderly people is more fragile than younger people. It is dry, loose, and less elastic because the outer layer of our skin becomes thinner as we age leading to a more fragile inner layer of skin. Consequently, elderly people are not only more susceptible to being cold but also to being burned by the efforts used to warm them, such as heating blankets or space heaters. With the added fact that many nursing home residents lack the mental capacity of understanding dangers and are unable to call for help or adjusting the heat around them, nursing home employees must be vigilant in knowing the potential dangers of the circumstances with their elderly residents.
So, what should employees do to prevent nursing home residents from being burned? They should consult their facility policies for proper bath water temperatures to insure that residents are not accidentally scalded. If policies and procedures are silent as to appropriate temperatures, then they should test the water before the elderly resident is bathed. If the water is hot to the point of being uncomfortable to their touch, then they know that it will be very uncomfortable for the elderly resident. Staff members should also insist that the policies be updated to include appropriate bathing temperatures.
Nursing home employees should also use regular blankets rather than heating blankets or space heaters if possible. If this is impossible, residents must never be positioned too close to heating units and certainly should not be touching the heater. Residents who have heating units should be closely supervised to make sure that they are safe and not being harmed by heaters.
To keep your loved ones safe, pay attention to how close they are to radiators, baseboard heaters, and portable space heaters. If your family member is using a heating blanket, check to make sure the heat is law as possible to keep them warm and know how long the blanket has been in use. Make sure that heating blankets are not resting directly on your family member’s skin.
We can help prevent if your loved one has been burned in a nursing home
Our attorneys have been successful in resolving cases favorable to our clients in cases where nursing homes have caused serious injury by not keeping residents at a safe temperature. If a family member or loved one has been suffered injuries or death because a Maryland nursing home failed to protect your family member from excessive heat, contact Nursing Home Justice Associates at 1-410-825-ABUSE (2287) to learn more about your legal rights.
Nursing Home Justice…..It’s What We Do.
Other Injuries Suffered By Nursing Home Residents:
Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcer
Burns
Choking
Clogged Breathing Tubes
Falls
Malnutrition & Dehydration
Medication Errors
Physical Abuse
Restraints & Bedrails
Sepsis/Infection
Sexual Abuse
Wandering & Elopement