My son Leeandre became bedridden in mid 2023 due to 2 aggressive cancers. He spent the last two months of his life lying in a hospital bed. He contracted a life-threatening infection from lack of attention to being both repositioned and cleaned in a timely manner. And though he was battling with cancer, there is no way to tell if he would still be here today continuing his fight. During his stay, I made complaints addressing both concerns, but opposed to making sure the much needed attention became a priority, the staff apologized for being understaffed and too busy, as if that was an okay statement to make in regards to a patient’s care.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1MZcO7567qo?si=6JGd8hDNQ1oRL3gC

Bedridden patients require constant rotation to prevent contraction and bed sores. And when incontinent, their cleanliness can become life threatening. The two agendas should be top priority. They should not be included on a list of agendas a nurse makes during her rounds. Hiring an individual to specifically address these concerns could help save lives by the prevention of life-threatening complications such as pressure ulcers or infections due to being left to lye in their own feces and bodily fluids.

Your signature could help urge congress to enforce hospitals to create specialized roles dedicated solely to repositioning and cleaning bedridden and incontinent patients, ensuring that they receive the care they deserve. Opposed to them taking comfort and feeling protected, in creating negligent circumstances due to lack of attention to an ongoing pandemic that could simply be avoided by implementing a better plan towards addressing the problem itself opposed to creating reasons to avoid the much needed change.