I caused the two worst bed sores my mother had when I was caring for her at home, because of my own ignorance.
When she entered residential care she was spared the loss problem of bedsores throughout her 5 1/2 year stay. During her first 4 years she was able to turn over herself, and was monitored carefully, and at some time in her last year or so she began sleeping on an alternating pressure mattress, with continuing monitoring during sleep.
She was only entirely bed bound for the last couple weeks of her brief hospice life which I think also helped a lot.
I Highly recommend an alternating air mattress. Although the person still needs rolled every so often, the movement of the mattress relieves pressure. Now that my husband spends a few hours a day away from the alternating mattress and on a foam topped regular hospital bed instead, he is starting to get sores that he never had before. (The foam topper makes it extremely difficult for me to roll him over, but I’m afraid the mattress without it is too hard!)
When my Husband was on Hospice we had an Alternating Pressure Air Mattress and it was great. The first mattress he got when he first went on Hospice was a Pressure Relief Mattress that was more of a Memory Foam type mattress and it was fine for quite a while but as my Husband spent more time in bed Hospice ordered the Air Flow one. We NEVER had a problem with pressure sores. the Alternating Pressure Air mattress while great was a little bit noisy and it took a while to get used to it. (I had to turn it back on the day he died, when I got home the house was just to quiet.....) It alone is not the "Holy Grail" to prevent pressure sores though you have to take care of the skin as well. You still need to make sure their position is changed, every 2 hours at least. And areas that still rest on the mattress may need to be elevated or otherwise protected. (Heels and not thought about a lot but the back of the head). They are wonderful tools to help prevent pressure sores.
NO, the patient still needs to be turned and assessed at least every 20-30 minutes if unable to shift or turn on their own. That's just how quickly a pressure sore and or skin break can develop.
When she entered residential care she was spared the loss problem of bedsores throughout her 5 1/2 year stay. During her first 4 years she was able to turn over herself, and was monitored carefully, and at some time in her last year or so she began sleeping on an alternating pressure mattress, with continuing monitoring during sleep.
She was only entirely bed bound for the last couple weeks of her brief hospice life which I think also helped a lot.
She also said that she wanted to see if they were comfortable so she tried it herself and said that it was comfortable.
the Alternating Pressure Air mattress while great was a little bit noisy and it took a while to get used to it. (I had to turn it back on the day he died, when I got home the house was just to quiet.....)
It alone is not the "Holy Grail" to prevent pressure sores though you have to take care of the skin as well. You still need to make sure their position is changed, every 2 hours at least. And areas that still rest on the mattress may need to be elevated or otherwise protected. (Heels and not thought about a lot but the back of the head).
They are wonderful tools to help prevent pressure sores.
Once it get to stage 4, your facility has its work set out... They go from 1 - 4 within a few days.. keep checking it.
This is the time for you to ask insurance about palliative and/or hospice help... to check on those wounds. they will prescribe what is needed.