Nursing Home Sepsis & Infections
Dedicated Legal Help for Nursing Home Residents Suffering from Sepsis
The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Levinson Law, P.C., have years of experience helping nursing home residents and their families recover damages after suffering harm due to abuse and neglect. Nursing home negligence can put elderly or disabled residents at higher risk for injuries and illnesses, such as sepsis and other infections. Such infections can, in turn, exacerbate existing problems, weaken residents’ immune systems, and cause additional complications. Severe infections and conditions such as sepsis may even lead to death.
If your loved one is in a nursing home and is suffering from infections or other dangerous conditions like sepsis, Levinson Law, P.C., can help you investigate whether the infection could have been prevented had the home been taking proper care of its residents. We will work with you to ensure that your loved one gets the care and attention they deserve in a nursing home. If they are harmed by a nursing home’s negligence or abuse, we will fight to ensure that the neglectful home pays your loved one and your family for the harm they have caused.
What is Sepsis?
Sepsis is a potentially fatal condition caused by the body’s response to infection. Normally, when the body experiences an infection, it will release chemicals into the bloodstream to fight the infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to these chemicals is not properly balanced–in essence, it is blood poisoning.
Sepsis can cause organ failure, septic shock (a sudden drop of blood pressure), and death. While sepsis can happen to anyone, it is more common and significantly more dangerous for older adults and people who have chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, kidney or lung disease, or otherwise weakened immune systems.
What Leads to Sepsis and Other Infections?
Nursing home residents are already at higher risk for infections. Elderly, disabled, and otherwise ill individuals often have weakened immune systems and often have chronic conditions such as cancer or kidney disease that put them at higher risk for sepsis.
Certain factors can increase the risk of infection by reducing the body’s ability to properly fight off illness, including:
- Dehydration
- Malnutrition
- Unsanitary conditions such as uncleaned linens or laundry
- Mold and bug infestations
Nursing homes have a responsibility not only to ensure that residents get proper hydration and nutrition but also to prepare for infection and conditions such as sepsis. They should be trained to identify the signs of sepsis, and in how to treat sepsis and other conditions should they occur.
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition, and failure to plan for and treat sepsis quickly and competently when it occurs puts elderly residents at serious risk of organ failure and death. If your elderly or disabled loved one received improper treatment for sepsis in a Tulsa nursing home or long-term care facility, you have the right to hold that nursing home accountable for any injury or death that occurred as a result.
Common Nursing Home Infections
Nursing home residents are especially prone to certain infections, including:
- Pneumonia and other respiratory infections, often linked to swallowing problems, feeding tubes and inhaling food or stomach contents;
- Urinary tract infections, often linked to catheters and immobility;
- Skin and soft tissue infections, often starting in bedsores that develop when residents are not turned and kept clean; and
- Gastroenteritis, including C. difficile and norovirus, which cause vomiting, diarrhea and dangerous dehydration.
Any of these infections can spread to the blood and lead to sepsis.
Why Infections Spread in Nursing Homes
Residents live close together, share dining rooms and common areas, and have contact with many staff members and visitors. Many have catheters, feeding tubes, IV lines or wounds that give germs a way into the body, and residents returning from a hospital stay can bring back germs that resist antibiotics. That is why nursing homes are required to run infection prevention and control programs. Infections spread when staff do not wash their hands or change gloves between residents, when equipment and shared surfaces are not cleaned, when food is handled unsafely, when residents are left in soiled bedding, or when sick residents are not isolated.
When an Infection Points to Neglect
Sepsis is often treatable when an infection is caught early. A serious or fatal case can be a sign that the facility failed in its duties, for example by:
- Not monitoring residents for fever, confusion, rapid breathing, low blood pressure and other warning signs;
- Not reporting changes in a resident’s condition to a doctor or nurse;
- Delaying lab tests or a transfer to the hospital;
- Failing to clean and care for catheters, wounds and feeding tubes;
- Poor hygiene and sanitation; or
- Not having enough trained staff.
Trusted Advice and Representation from a Knowledgeable Attorney
Nursing homes are required to maintain proper facilities and well-trained staff in order to mitigate the risk of infection, sepsis, and other conditions. They are also required to keep a staff that is prepared to detect and appropriately deal with emergencies such as sepsis when they occur. If your elderly or disabled family member suffered because of an untrained, ill-equipped, or otherwise negligent nursing home staff, you and your family have the right to seek damages for the harm you suffered. Call the dedicated attorneys at Levinson Law, P.C., for a free consultation to discuss your case.