Ann Healthcare-acquired MRSA from poor wound care in nursing home

Your Name: Ann

Patient’s Name/Relationship: self

City/State: Florida

When did event occur (what year)? 2018

Where did event occur? Nursing Home

What type of medical harm did you experience or witness? Healthcare-Acquired Infection

Please describe what happened. I was discharged from a hospital to a nursing home for post-acute care and therapy. The physician had applied a “silver dressing” and orders had been given to the nursing home to “keep it dry and intact”. These orders were ignored on 3 occasions and at no time was the physician notified. Ice bags leaked and soaked the dressing on two occasions. One time, the soaked dressing was left on the leg for a couple of hours. I had told the nurses that I had very uncomfortable itching and they blew it off as “oh, that is great…it means you are healing.” I was fortunate to have a follow-up appointment scheduled with my doctor the next day and showed him my infected leg with evidence of necrotized tissue. He readmitted me and I underwent four more weeks of treatment to clear the MRSA.

What was the outcome of the medical harm issue? Serious or life-threatening injury