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Case Series Studying Nosocomial Pressure Ulcers in the Post-Operative CABG patient.
Purpose: To decrease the incidence of pressure ulcers among CABG patients post-operatively in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. Methods:
Background: Post-op CABG patients are at high risk for developing pressure ulcers. A thorough literature review revealed little research on preventing pressure ulcers through the early implementation of a static air overlay in this population.
Intervention: The intervention for this project was a simple two part approach. First the implementation of a protocol requiring the immediate use of a static air overlay for all post-op CABG patients upon transfer to ICU from the operating room. The education of nurses was the second part and it had three tiers: 1) Affirming prior knowledge regarding prevention of pressure ulcers and clearly identifying the problem in their area 2) Review of pressure ulcer prevention guidelines and policy changes 3) Conveying to staff recent advances in the field of pressure ulcer staging, development and treatment. Sample: Two hundred and thirty patients experienced the intervention. Patient’s ages ranged from 27 to 88 with 61% between 50 and 70 years old. Thirty-eight percent had Diabetes Mellitus and the average BMI was 29.43. None of the patients in the study were on immunosuppressive therapy. Results: Ten pressure ulcers in this hospital population occurred in the six months prior to the intervention. One pressure ulcer occurred in the six months following the intervention. Conclusion: This simple and low cost intervention not only dramatically reduced nosocomial pressure ulcer occurrence in a post-operative CABG population. But having this combination of protocols set into place and staff education elevated the nurses' awareness of skin integrity changes thus providing them with tools to diminish the incidence of pressure ulcers.
Purpose: To decrease the incidence of pressure ulcers among CABG patients post-operatively in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. Methods:
Background: Post-op CABG patients are at high risk for developing pressure ulcers. A thorough literature review revealed little research on preventing pressure ulcers through the early implementation of a static air overlay in this population.
Intervention: The intervention for this project was a simple two part approach. First the implementation of a protocol requiring the immediate use of a static air overlay for all post-op CABG patients upon transfer to ICU from the operating room. The education of nurses was the second part and it had three tiers: 1) Affirming prior knowledge regarding prevention of pressure ulcers and clearly identifying the problem in their area 2) Review of pressure ulcer prevention guidelines and policy changes 3) Conveying to staff recent advances in the field of pressure ulcer staging, development and treatment. Sample: Two hundred and thirty patients experienced the intervention. Patient’s ages ranged from 27 to 88 with 61% between 50 and 70 years old. Thirty-eight percent had Diabetes Mellitus and the average BMI was 29.43. None of the patients in the study were on immunosuppressive therapy. Results: Ten pressure ulcers in this hospital population occurred in the six months prior to the intervention. One pressure ulcer occurred in the six months following the intervention. Conclusion: This simple and low cost intervention not only dramatically reduced nosocomial pressure ulcer occurrence in a post-operative CABG population. But having this combination of protocols set into place and staff education elevated the nurses' awareness of skin integrity changes thus providing them with tools to diminish the incidence of pressure ulcers.