Premium
Tracking pressure injuries as adverse events: National use of the Global Trigger Tool over a 4‐year period
Author(s) -
Gunningberg Lena,
Sving Eva,
Hommel Ami,
Ålenius Carina,
Wiger Per,
Bååth Carina
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12996
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency medicine , acute care , harm , health care , patient safety , medical emergency , adverse effect , retrospective cohort study , acute hospital , occupational safety and health , intensive care medicine , surgery , political science , law , economics , economic growth , pathology
Aim To examine the frequency, preventability, and consequences of hospital acquired pressure injuries in acute care hospitals over a 4‐year period. Method A retrospective record review was performed using the Swedish version of the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). A total of 64 917 hospital admissions were reviewed. Data were collected between 2013 and 2016 from all 63 Swedish acute care hospitals. Results The prevalence of pressure injuries (category 2‐4) was 1%. Older patients, “satellite patients”, and patients with acute admissions had more pressure injuries. Most pressure injuries (91%) were determined to be preventable. The mean extended length of hospital stay was 15.8 days for patients who developed pressure injuries during hospitalization. Conclusion The GTT provides a useful and complementary national perspective on hospital acquired pressure injuries across hospitals, informing health care providers on safety priorities to reduce patient harm. Clinical leaders can use information on the preventability and the consequences of pressure injuries, as well as evidence‐based arguments for improving the health care organization.