A pressure ulcer can be described as a localized injury that happens on the skin or the tissue beneath in most cases on a bony prominence. This is usually caused by pressure or by both shear and friction. Besides the fact that treating a pressure ulcer is costly ($43, 1801), it is also a very serious medical condition and one of the crucial measures involved in provision of quality health care in nursing homes (Harding & Clark, 2018). The condition can be harmful and painful for the patient partly because the broken skin can permit infection entrance into the affected individual’s body (Bradford, 2016). In cases where a pressure ulcer is not treated, it can further deepen and reveal the bone. Pressure ulcers that are deep in most cases prove hard to heal or even at times do not heal at all. In addition, there are instances when a pressure ulcer can cause death.
As a result of the dangers associated with pressure ulcers and the fact that it is a life threatening condition, there is a great need to prevent them in residents at skilled nursing facilities. In this paper I will address the problem to nursing facility administration of a facility under Abby Smith and give a solution to the problem. Clinical practice, opinion from experts and specialists and existing literature show that majority, not all, of pressure ulcers are preventable. A study conducted by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, in 2010, confirmed that there are pressure ulcers that can be avoided and others not avoidable especially in cases where pressure cannot be eliminated and no room for improving perfusion (Kottner et al., 2019).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Majority of skilled nursing facilities including the one under the administration of Abby Smith wound clinical nurse specialists are in few numbers and this is not adequate to cater for the residents in skilled nursing facilities. In addition, most LTC residents experience interfered bed mobility, increased repositioning, application of positioning devices and reducing head-of-bed rising are important issues in the prevention of pressure ulcers (Kottner et. al, 2019). In this case, I would like to suggest we allow nursing students to do their hands on to help with the prevention.
Allowing the nursing students help in implementing protocols that are evidence-based can play a significant role in the prevention of pressure ulcers. Laying emphasis on pressure ulcer prevention measures by using single valid and risk assessment tools that are reliable in the prevention of pressure ulcer development, measures that do not require or require little technology, for example, patient repositioning schedules that are written down minimize the likelihood of a pressure ulcer occurring in a significant way (Bradford, 2016). Having the nursing students help in the prevention can significantly reduce the occurrence of pressure ulcers.
Nurses working in skilled nursing facilities are usually involved throughout to an extent that most of them experience burnouts. Residents in such facilities suffer from other conditions such as depression as a result of their medical conditions that require nursing care and the few nurses available have to handle them. As a result, many of the measures that need to be implemented in order to prevent the development of pressure ulcers in skilled nursing facilities are not implemented.
Studies show that although it is acknowledge that the above mentioned evidence-based protocols are acknowledged as essential in the prevention of pressure ulcers, they are in most cases not implemented in skilled nursing facilities and a number of patients die as a result of pressure ulcers that could be prevented (Bradford, 2016). I therefore find it important that the capacity of nurses in these facilities is increased by allowing nursing students offer a helping hand and implement the knowledge gained under the supervision of skilled nurses in this area.
The costs in this case would be increased expenditure because of incentives given to nursing students. However, this would improve patient outcomes and avoid lawsuits that are in most cases filed against skilled nursing facilities because of nurses’ negligence or other issues related to pressure ulcers. From the established laws regarding this problem, it is required that no patient admitted at such facilities without a pressure ulcer should develop it after admission. Therefore, prevention measure is important in this case.
Reference
Bradford, N. K. (2016). Repositioning for pressure ulcer prevention in adults-A Cochrane review. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 22 (1), 108-109. doi:10.1111/ijn.12426
Harding, K., & Clark, M. (2018). Innovation in Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Treatment. Science and Practice of Pressure Ulcer Management, 237-242. Doi: 10.1007/978-1-4471-7413-4_17
Kottner, J., Cuddigan, J., Carville, K., Balzer, K., Berlowitz, D., Law, S., . . . Haesler, E. (2019). Prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers/injuries: The protocol for the second update of the international Clinical Practice Guideline 2019. Journal of Tissue Viability,28 (2), 51-58. doi:10.1016/j.jtv.2019.01.001
