Pressure Ulcers And The Acute Care Unit : Making A Change

The authors were concerned with health-related quality of life (HRQL) and how pressure ulcers impact the patient's subjective experience of care, because overall health care outcomes may be influenced by the interaction between disease burden and patient compliance. Thirty adult patients in hospital, rehabilitation, or community care in England and Ireland were recruited for the study. Inclusion in the study required being under the care of a tissue viability nurse.

Two types of measures should be considered: Incidence and Prevalence rates. Incidence mentions the percentage of people developing a new ulcer while in facility which counts the pressure ulcers after admission. Incidence rates provides the direct evidence of the quality of care. Prevalence tells the percentage of people having a pressure ulcer while in facility. This provides the pressure ulcer burden but it is less when compared to incidence rate quality of preventive care. Ensure that the staff understand the difference between prevalence and incidence rates and define the measurement approach that will be in

Pressure ulcer develops as a result of the skin that is over bony prominence. The pressure impairs blood flow leading to tissue necrosis and ulceration. Pressure ulcer can develop in several areas of bony prominence of the body such as the sacrum, greater trochanter, ankles, shoulders, head and ischia. It can develop quickly and difficult to treat, it ranges from mild to skin redness to severe tissue damage, development of infection and damage to muscle. Older people are most at risk due to thin and fragile skin,

The hospital acquiring data on the above indicators of pressure ulcer incidence, prevalence of restraints,

Studies have pointed out that nurses possess a significant role and extensive knowledge in pressure ulcer prevention. Instructive programs in the hospitals give great learning to nurses about the preventive and treatment techniques for

Pressure Ulcers affects patients the older patients due to the problem of immobility. A pressure

The worse possible outcome of a pressure ulcer is death, with an approximation of 60,000 patients dying each year as a direct result of a pressure ulcer (Stotts & Gunningberg, 2007). This is significant to nursing practice because if we can prevent more pressure ulcers from occurring, we can dramatically improve patient outcomes, patient family and satisfaction, and even prevent the death of a loved one.

20). Further, the presence of pressure ulcers places a burden on patients and their family (Grinspun, 2005, p.21). As recommended by Grinspun (2005), pillows and foam wedges to separate prominences of the body and lifting devices have been beneficial to avoid friction (p. 32). Research suggests that the majority of pressure ulcers can be avoided. Although, the population at risk likely suffers from the possible contributors, as stated repositioning at least every 2 hours or sooner was effective (Grinspun, 2005, p. 32). When practicing I will reposition patients at appropriate times to reduce the risk of damage to the skin. Additionally, when moving a patient up in bed, I will request adequate assistance from other nursing staff to use a lifting device. This will help to avoid friction while the patient is being moved, ultimately reducing the development of pressure

Nurses need to realise what they are looking for when performing skin assessments for patients. A study conducted by Thoroddsen et al (2013), found that out of 45 patients that had pressure ulcers only 27 were correctly recorded in the patient’s records.

Evidence suggests that pressure ulcers greatly increase mortality rates in both hospitals and nursing homes (Thomas, 2001). Patients who develop a pressure ulcer within six weeks of admission to an acute-care facility are three times more likely to die than patients who do not develop pressure ulcers (Thomas, 2001). Moreover, patients who develop a pressure ulcer within three months of admission to a long-term care facility are associated with a 92% mortality rate compared with a 4% mortality rate for patients who do not develop them (Thomas, 2001). This evidence alone shows how significant this problem is to the overall health status of patients. In my personal nursing experience, I have heard many complaints voiced from patients and their family members concerning the development of new pressure ulcers. Patients and family members have expressed dissatisfaction because of the increased stress and prolonged hospital stay often associated with the treatment of pressure ulcers.

Preventing pressure ulcers is important ,because as they are open wonders, and as such they hold a high risk of infection that can easily lead to things such as blood poison over time. If left untreated or noted patient's health can turn of stable to critical in a matter of hours or days depending on the severity of the sour.

Pressure ulcers continue to be a prevalent issue in the health care system and causes “pain, slow recovery from morbid conditions, infection and death” (Kwong, Pang, Aboo, & Law, 2009, p. 2609). In the field of nursing turning and repositioning patients is a well-known nursing intervention to prevent development of pressure ulcers. However, many hospitals and facilities still neglect to apply this as a standard policy. This gives room for nurses and nursing aides to overlook the importance of this intervention resulting in increased pressure ulcer development. The purpose of turning and repositioning patients is to prevent oxygen

The INTACT trial showed a significant reduction in pressure ulcers (PU) incidence in the intervention group at the hospital (cluster) level, but this difference was not significant at the

Thus, the expected outcome is that there is prevention of skin breakdown relating to pressure ulcers during hospitalizations for patients.

Despite advancement of technology, pressure ulcer continues to be a primordial in the health care system. Prevention of pressure ulcer remains an important issue in the health care facility. The critically ill ICU patient is the main target of this disease. Prevention remains the key for this problem. Some facility have standard policy for the eradication of pressure ulcer However the question is will the sacrum pressure ulcer formation be reduced in adult critically ill clients