Sacral Foam Dressings for Prevention in ICU Patients

Sacral Foam Dressings for Prevention in ICU Patients

The problem of hospital acquired pressure ulcers has been an ongoing issue related to nursing practice since the days of Florence Nightingale. The ICU has the highest rate of hospital acquired pressure ulcers due to the high acuity of patients with multiple comorbidities.  The sacrum and coccyx is one of the most common locations for hospital acquired pressure ulcers in the ICU.  Pressure ulcers decrease patient satisfaction due to increased pain, prolonged hospitalization, and increased risk for infection.  Facilities have increased liability and decreased reimbursements related to patients that develop hospital acquired pressure ulcers in their care.

An increase in hospital acquired pressure ulcers in the facilities ICU led the investigator to conduct a pilot project for quality improvement. The pilot project focused on determining whether the use of sacral foam dressings will reduce the incidence of hospital acquired pressure ulcers in patients admitted to the ICU.  A thorough review of literature found that sacral foam dressings are effective in the prevention of hospital acquired pressure ulcers when used in conjunction with standard pressure ulcer prevention strategies.

A new Pressure Ulcer Prevention Protocol was developed that included standard pressure ulcer prevention strategies, which included sacral foam dressings for prevention of pressure ulcers. Guidelines identifying Indications for Use and Instructions for Use of sacral foam dressings for prevention were developed.  Buy-in was obtained from stakeholders and pilot project was completed over four months.  Following the evaluation of the practice change, the pilot project was found to be successful with a reduction of sacral hospital acquired pressure ulcers.  The Pressure Ulcer Prevention Protocol was adopted into practice following this pilot project for quality improvement.