Stage 1Intact skin with localized nonblanchable redness.
Pressure Injuries / Bed Sores
Understanding pressure injuries in nursing-home care.
Pressure injuries are a recognized patient-safety concern. This page provides a non-graphic overview of staging, common risk factors, prevention concepts, and government-source information relevant to families evaluating nursing-home care.
Issues we evaluate
- Stage 1 through Stage 4
- Limited mobility and prolonged pressure
- Moisture and incontinence
- Nutrition and weight loss
- Friction and shear
- Repositioning and skin assessment
Bed sore basics
What Is a Bed Sore?
A bed sore, also called a pressure sore, pressure ulcer, or pressure injury, is damage to the skin and underlying tissue caused by prolonged pressure or by pressure combined with friction or shear. Bed sores most often develop over bony areas of the body, including the heels, tailbone, hips, ankles, and elbows.
People who have limited mobility or who cannot regularly reposition themselves may be at greater risk. Early pressure injuries may appear as persistent redness or discoloration of intact skin. More serious injuries can extend into deeper tissue and may lead to infection or other complications. A bed sore does not automatically establish negligence; evaluating a potential case requires reviewing the resident’s risks, skin assessments, repositioning, support surfaces, nutrition, moisture management, wound care, and the facility’s documentation.
Academic overview
Pressure Injuries: Stages 1–4
A simplified educational view of how clinicians classify pressure injuries by the depth and extent of tissue involvement.
Stage 2Partial-thickness skin loss with exposed dermis.
Stage 3Full-thickness tissue loss extending into the subcutaneous layer.
Stage 4Full-thickness skin and tissue loss with deeper structures involved.
Pressure injuries do not necessarily progress sequentially from Stage 1 through Stage 4. This educational presentation is intentionally non-graphic.
Pressure injury facts
A recognized patient-safety concern.
The source cards below link directly to the underlying government references.
2.5+ MillionPeople in the United States develop pressure ulcers each year, according to AHRQ.Source: AHRQ ↗ (opens in a new tab)Serious Infection RiskAHRQ notes that pressure ulcers can cause pain and carry a risk of serious infection and increased health-care use.Source: AHRQ ↗ (opens in a new tab)CMS Quality MeasureCMS tracks pressure ulcers and pressure injuries as nursing-home quality measures, including new or worsened injuries.Source: CMS ↗ (opens in a new tab)
The 2.5+ million figure refers to people in the United States generally, not nursing-home residents alone.
Prevention concepts
Risk assessment and preventive care matter.
Prevention matters. Repositioning, appropriate support surfaces, nutrition, moisture management, and ongoing skin assessment are important parts of pressure-injury prevention. A pressure injury is not automatically evidence of negligence; the question is whether known risks were assessed and reasonable preventive care was provided and documented.
Clinical references: AHRQ pressure-injury staging guidance (opens in a new tab) and AHRQ prevention guidance (opens in a new tab).
Local bed-sore representation
Bed sore and pressure-injury matters in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and throughout New York City.
Families seeking a Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island bed sore lawyer can speak with Deliso Law about serious pressure injuries arising in nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. The firm also represents clients from Park Slope, Red Hook, Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, and communities throughout New York City. Cases also handled in New Jersey through associated counsel.
Brooklyn Bed Sore LawyerQueens Bed Sore LawyerStaten Island Bed Sore Lawyer
Pressure-injury questions
Understanding pressure injuries, prevention, and the care record.
What are the stages of a pressure injury?
Pressure injuries are clinically categorized by the depth and type of tissue damage. The website’s academic staging section provides a simplified overview; formal staging and treatment decisions belong to qualified medical professionals.
How can pressure injuries develop?
Pressure, shear, limited mobility, moisture, nutrition concerns, and other medical risk factors can contribute. Prevention often involves risk assessment, repositioning, appropriate support surfaces, skin monitoring, moisture management, and nutrition-related care.
What records can help evaluate a bed-sore case?
Wound measurements and photographs, nursing assessments, repositioning documentation, care plans, support-surface orders, nutrition records, physician or wound-care notes, and hospital records can help establish how the wound developed and progressed.
Free case review
Talk with Deliso Law about what happened.
There is no attorney’s fee unless the firm obtains a recovery.