Resident with Pressure Sores

Author: Tamara Reynolds, OTR/L
Published: 03 September 2008

Mrs. M. was one of my first experiences with a Broda chair. She had a Broda chair that was about 6 years old, and a cable needed replacing. Mrs. M. was in the intermediate stages of dementia, and had very limited mobility. She required a mechanical lift for transfers, and was unable to independently reposition her weight while sitting. She was incontinent and wore a plastic-coated incontinence product. She had a history of skin breakdown, and about every six months developed a pressure area on her buttocks which required her to limit her time out of bed.

I called the Broda representative and he was happy to come fix the cable for me. While he was there, I told him about the problem with her skin breakdown. His response was that she should not be using the pressure relief cushion that was in her chair. I was reluctant about removing the cushion, with the thought that this particular cushion was the “golden standard” in pressure reduction. However, he insisted that if I trusted the chair and removed the cushion, she would stop breaking down. I took the cushion away, and kept track of her for the next 2 years (after which I moved from the area, and no longer worked in that facility.) During the time that I continued to track her, she never had another issue with skin breakdown.