Collaboration and Teamwork to Reduce Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Rates

COLLABORATION AND TEAMWORK TO REDUCE PRESSURE ULCER PREVALENCE RATES

Purpose
Today’s health care organizations need to be diligent in efforts to prevent and treat pressure ulcers. In response to our increasing hospital acquired pressure ulcer rates, we used a team approach to lower our rates to be below the benchmark of Nursing Quality Indicators.

Methodology

A systematic education approach was undertaken to include all direct care givers on identifying at risk patients, performing skin and pressure ulcer assessments, choosing pressure ulcer treatments and prevention measures, and communication with all caregivers involved for continuity of care and collaboration.

Skin Pressure Ulcer Education and Consult Team (SPECT), our certified wound care nurses, worked with Nurse Managers, Assistant Nurse Managers, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Clinical Instructors, Unit Based Skin Care Resource Nurses and bedside nurses to provide support and education in prevention and pressure ulcer care.

Shared Governance activity on nursing units addressed skin care practice issues; planned unit based skin fair days, and participated in FastTrac pressure ulcer reduction projects.

Nursing Informatics collaborated with SPECT to restructure pressure ulcer documentation to ensure evidence-based practice in the electronic chart.

Management ensured that all nursing personnel attended mandatory education classes and rounded on patients to assess nursing care.

Continual skin care documentation monitoring by Nursing Quality Nursing Coordinators and SPECT nurses provided feedback and education to the bedside nurses. Quality trending reports for hospital acquired pressure ulcers allowed nursing management to address practice issues.

Results

We decreased our Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcer rate from 7.0 % 1^st Quarter 2008 to a sustainable average of 4.0 % which is below the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI).

Conclusion  

Our Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcer prevalence rates decreased and have remained below our NDNQI benchmarks with continued efforts, teamwork, and accountability. The shift toward increased responsibility in skin care by all levels of nursing resulted in improved patient care for these high risk patients.