title: Resource nurse program: A nurse-initiated, evidence-based program to eliminate hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.
abstract: This article describes the process used to establish a systemwide, sustainable team of staff nurses to serve as unit-based resource nurses charged with aiding colleagues in the assessment, treatment, and prevention of pressure ulcers. A multidisciplinary program was developed to address barriers in preventing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, including incomplete knowledge of causative factors, confusion in determining wound etiology, incorrect staging, inaccurate Braden Scale scoring, and inconsistent application of evidence-supported prevention interventions. The Resource Nurse Program was initiated in a community-based 511-bed, acute care teaching hospital located in the Midwestern United States.
authors.affiliation: Nancy Beinlich, MSN, RN, CWON, Director, Wound Center, Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio. Anita Meehan, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, ONC, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Gerontology, Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Beinlich
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meehan
mesh_terms: D017046:Cost Savings; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D010348:Patient Care Team; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016730:Program Development