A patient was admitted into our ward yesterday.
He has grade 4 pressure ulcers on his buttocks.
For anyone that hasn’t seen a grade 4 before it is effectively a big hole, filled with sloughly necrotic tissue where his buttocks should be. Despite having numerous lectures on pressure sores, nothing prepares you for the moment you first see one. It truly looks agonizing!
Our skin is there to protect us, it’s a barrier to the outside world, and when it breaks down to that extent it cannot do the functions that are expected of it.
In a grade 4 pressure sore there is usually lots of dead tissue and in his wound there was a lot of leakage of fluid and sloughly flesh.
He is at serious risk of infection as the wound could affect other areas of his body via his blood circulation causing blood poisoning (septacaemia).
He was in an extraordinary amount of pain, and he had to be turned regularly meaning that his sleep was interrupted throughout the night which doesn’t help the wound healing.
He developed these sores at home. He has come into hospital when they are in an appalling condition, now it is about management of his wounds rather than prevention. A pressure ulcer can develop very quickly but it can take several months of permanent bed rest to heal. In some cases it may even require surgery in addition to a long period of bed rest.
I find it scary how many people must fly under the radar in a similar condition. His sole carer is his wife, who is elderly herself.
In 2001, around 6 million people provided unpaid care in the UK. There are over 3 million people aged 50+ providing unpaid care in the UK, providing in effect more than £15 million in care each year. Over 47,000 are aged 85+, 11,750 of these very aged carers provide 50 or more hours care per week. I feel that is an astronomical figure.
Now for a photo… eyes averted if you don’t like gruesome pictures, but this is what a grade 4 looks like. Now think about if you had that on your bottom and the constant pain you would be in, terrifying isn’t it?
Stats from Age UK and Carers UK
Student Nurse Alert 