Pressure Injury Prevention

By the WoundSource Editors

Pressure ulcers/injuries are extremely prevalent, particularly in long-term and other care facilities, and primarily affect older adults, those with cognitive impairment, mobility issues or individuals who are bedfast. Understanding the best ways to prevent skin damage before it develops into a significant injury is critical to improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.¹ This brief guide will introduce nurses and other health care professionals to pressure injury prevention best practices to reduce the risk of patients developing these preventable wounds.

By the WoundSource Editors

Nurses and other health care professionals providing care to patients regularly face challenges that can make it more difficult to perform routine tasks and ensure patient comfort and well-being, especially with regard to pressure ulcer/injury prevention and treatment. From a lack of mobility to chronic diseases, these challenges often coincide and interplay, creating unique risks and complications in managing the care of patients. To address these issues effectively, it is important to be aware of key best practice techniques for preventing pressure injuries and to stay proactive. This blog provides a brief overview of three of the most common patient challenges related to pressure injury prevention and offers strategies for effectively addressing each.

By Holly Hovan MSN, APRN, CWOCN-AP

When nurses hear the term moisture, they usually almost always think of urinary or fecal incontinence, or both. There are actually several other reasons why a patient could be moist. Continued moisture breaks down the skin, especially when the pH of the aggravating agent is lower (urine, stomach contents—think fistula, stool). When there is too much moisture in contact with our skin for too long, we become vulnerable to this moisture, and our skin breaks down. Increased moisture places a patient at risk for a pressure injury as the skin is already in a fragile state.

By Jeffrey Levine MD

Pressure injury prevention and management are sometimes overlooked in the hospital setting, where the focus is generally on acute illness. Given the immense implications in terms of cost, complications, reputation, and risk management, it is in the interest of all facilities to maximize quality of care with regard to wounds. This post will offer some suggestions on how this can be accomplished in hospitals by tweaking the system for maximum quality.

By Cheryl Carver LPN, WCC, CWCA, CWCP, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC

I consider myself to be beyond blessed. I know that my purpose in life is to be useful, compassionate, and to make a difference in wound care… In any capacity I can.

By Holly Hovan MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CWON-AP

As a wound, ostomy, and continence nurse in long-term care, education is a huge part of my role working in our Community Living Center (CLC), Hospice, and Transitional Care Unit (TCU). Unit specific, evidence-based training and continued follow-up are integral to the success of our pressure injury prevention program. The unit-based skin care nurses (UBSCNs) are at the frontline of prevention, along with all nursing staff, especially nursing assistants (NAs).

By Cheryl Carver LPN, WCC, CWCA, CWCP, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC

Let us start off this post with a typical scenario. You walk into any facility or institution and you see a patient slouched in their wheelchair, with no wheelchair cushion. You notice part of their brief hanging out of the top of their pants, so you assume the patient may be incontinent. So let’s think about this for a minute. We most likely have friction, shear, and moisture going on with this patient.

by Thomas E. Serena MD, FACS, FACHM, FAPWCA

"I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership."
-John F. Kennedy May 25, 1961

By Cheryl Carver, LPN, WCC, CWCA, FACCWS, DAPWCA, CLTC

In my role as a consultant and educator, I thought it would be interesting to acquire a handful of perspectives from wound care providers who work in the long-term care arena, and explore their responses.

By Terri Kolenich, RN, CWCA, AAPWCA

We all have hobbies outside of what we do for a living. At least, we all should have hobbies or interests outside of our careers. Our hobbies are our outlet for stress. I love to draw. I also enjoy painting. What I love most of all is acting and theater. I love being on stage, performing, and getting an emotional response from my audience. Everyone that knows me well knows how much I love acting on stage. Bringing a script to life exhilarates me. Just the thought of performing live, delivering memorized lines, and anticipating the reaction of my fellow actors stirs and motivates me. Most of all I crave the opportunity to use my improvising skills when a scene goes an unexpected direction.