...an elderly man is being treated for a life-threatening infection contacted when he was allegedly left on a bedpan for up to five days... The man, 80, was forced to undergo two bouts of surgery after the green pan became embedded in his skin, causing massive ulcers on both buttocks and leaving him with a hole at the base of his spine big enough to fit two fists... The man has limited English skills and was not able to inform staff the bedpan had not been removed. It is believed his family was told of the incident only two weeks after the pan was discovered and his buttocks had become severely infected, requiring surgery to debride the rotting skin... The incident raises serious questions about whether the man, who was immobile, had been turned regularly to prevent bedsores, was washed or had his sheets changed...
Rotting skin removed from man 'stuck' to bedpan - The Australian
Elderly patient left on bedpan for days - The Sydney Morning Herald
Hospital admits 'days on bedpan' mistake - ABC NewsI'm really curious to hear other people's thoughts on this. It shines a dreadful light on the standard of care (to the extreme) delivered to elderly people in the acute care setting. These people are vulnerable, frightened and often confused and sadly, it should be the role of the nurse to act as their eyes and ears as well as their advocate. It seems that in this situation (and many others, though perhaps not to this extreme) this has not been the case.
The report in this news article sounds almost unbelievable. It raises the possibility that this vulnerable patient was not turned regularly, sponged, toileted or had his sheets changed for a reasonably extended period of time (since the actual period of time seems to be in dispute.) For the disbelievers out there, I'm a nursing student who just finished clinical at the hospital where this incident occurred, within the time frame that it occurred and several students in my group were placed on the ward that this man was a patient on and saw these pressure sores with their own eyes. It makes me very sad that something like this should have to be seen or experienced by anyone.
Elderly patient left on bedpan for days
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