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A Nurse‐Initiated Perioperative Pressure Injury Risk Assessment and Prevention Protocol
Author(s) -
Meehan Anita J.,
Beinlich Nancy R.,
Hammonds Tracy L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/j.aorn.2016.10.004
Subject(s) - perioperative nursing , pressure injury , protocol (science) , perioperative , medicine , risk assessment , nursing , anesthesia , computer science , computer security , alternative medicine , pathology
Pressure injuries negatively affect patients physically, emotionally, and economically. Studies report that pressure injuries occur in 69% of inpatients who have undergone a surgical procedure while hospitalized. In 2012, we created a nurse‐initiated, perioperative pressure injury risk assessment measure for our midwestern, urban, adult teaching hospital. We retrospectively applied the risk assessment to a random sample of 350 surgical patients which validated the measure. The prospective use of the risk assessment and prevention measures in 350 surgical patients resulted in a 60% reduction in pressure injuries compared with the retrospective group. Our findings support the use of a multipronged approach for the prevention of health care–associated pressure injuries in the surgical population, which includes assessment of risk, implementation of evidence‐based prevention interventions for at‐risk patients, and continuation of prevention beyond the perioperative setting to the nursing care unit.