Are seniors in critical care checked for bedsores?

In the ICU setting, all patients are typically checked for bedsores. They are usually moved in the bed every 2 hours to help prevent bedsores from forming.

A healthy person, for example, may sit in a chair to do work. After awhile, the body will sense that there is too much pressure on certain spots, such as the elbows and the back of the thighs. The body will send a signal to redistribute the pressure. Without even realizing it, the healthy person will shift in his chair or get up to do something else and then return to the chair. A person in the ICU may be too sick or too sedated to recognize this signal from the body. He may also be too weak to independently shift his position. That's how bedsores (also called pressure sores) form.

Yes, seniors are checked for the development of bedsores in the ICU. Every patient in the ICU will have their skin assessed for any signs of redness or skin breakdown. It depends on the ICU but most have the nurse assess the patient every 2 hours and during that assessment the nurse looks for any sign of redness or skin breakdown. During that assessment the nurse will often turn the patient to their side so they can observe the back side of the body for any signs of redness and or skin breakdown do to laying in bed for any length of time.