title: Driving hospital-acquired pressure ulcers to zero.
abstract: The prevention of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers remains a top priority for health care facilities worldwide. This article discusses a process improvement in an intensive care unit where the unit-acquired pressure ulcer rate was dropped from 30% to 0% by front-line staff nurses. The key areas addressed by the staff were education, creating a process for turning patients during bedside report, and the creation of a documentation tool for accurate skin/wound assessment. Involving front-line staff in the prevention methodology creates a process that is quickly adopted by staff, peer-to-peer accountability in accurate skin/wound assessment, and positive outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Baylor Medical Center at Irving, 1901 N. MacArthur, Irving, TX 75061, USA. Electronic address: DonnaMor@baylorhealth.edu.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morehead
authors.affiliation: Baylor Medical Center at Irving, 1901 N. MacArthur, Irving, TX 75061, USA.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blain
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D017592:Skin Care / Q000451:nursing*
keywords: Bedside report; Braden score; Change process; Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers; Intensive care unit; NDNQI pressure ulcer education; Staff nurse accountability; Unit-acquired pressure ulcers