Pressure ulcer prevention in black and white nursing home residents: A QI initiative of enhanced ability, incentives, and management feedback.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if educating nursing home staff about pressure ulcer prevention reduces the differential risk of pressure ulcer development in black and white nursing home residents.


METHODS
Subanalysis of a study designed to monitor the emergence of all pressure ulcers in nursing home residents during 12-week baseline and intervention periods.


METHODS
All residents and staff of a not-for-profit, 136-bed nursing home in urban western Pennsylvania.


METHODS
The quality improvement intervention, featuring a computer-based interactive video education program on pressure ulcer prevention and early detection, consisted of 3 components: (1) staff ability enhancement, (2) staff financial incentives, and (3) real-time management feedback. Three specific outcome measures were monitored for differential risk of pressure ulcer development in black and white nursing home residents: (1) the rate of emergent Stage I-IV pressure ulcers identified, (2) the rate of emergent Stage II-IV pressure ulcers identified, and (3) the rate of individual residents developing at least 1 pressure ulcer (Stages II-IV).


RESULTS
At baseline, black residents demonstrated a higher rate of Stage II-IV pressure ulcer emergence. Black residents with any pressure ulcer were also more likely to have multiple Stage II pressure ulcers compared with white residents. During the baseline period, 31.8% of the pressure ulcers detected in white residents were Stage I, whereas no Stage I pressure ulcers were detected in black residents. During the intervention period, the rate of emergence of all pressure ulcers declined for both groups in similar trends.


CONCLUSIONS
Black residents were more likely to have multiple Stage II-IV pressure ulcers and were less likely to have Stage I pressure ulcers identified at baseline compared with white residents. The education intervention effectively reduced the rate of pressure ulcers for all residents and eliminated the racial disparity noted during the baseline period.
Rosen
Jules
J
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Mittal
Vikas
V
Degenholtz
Howard
H
Castle
Nick
N
Mulsant
Benoit H
BH
Nace
David
D
Rubin
Fred H
FH
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration; D005246:Feedback; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009042:Motivation; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D017592:Skin Care / Q000451:nursing / Q000592:standards; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*