Task 2
WGU
Healthcare problem
A pressure ulcer begins when a patient has a bony prominence that is underneath areas of soft tissue and extended pressure/weight potentially combined with shearing cause damage to the soft tissue. Pressure ulcers can be as little as reddening of the skin that may be painful, all the way to completely open sores exposing bone, tissue, and muscle combined with necrotic tissue in the wound bed. Pressure ulcers often occur in bone bumps like the sacrum, bumps of the ASIS, heels, trochanter, occipital, and shoulder area. (Hetmatpou et al. 2018)
Significance of the problem
The problems that arise from pressure ulcers are seen on a global scale, affect millions of people, and cost billions of dollars annually to treat. In America in 2012, 6.1 million patients with pressure ulcers had to pay 2.17 billion in ICU costs, while in the UK the cost is between 4.1 and 1.2 billion pounds.
Along with the financial aspect comes the mental aspect as well as an increased mortality rate. Patients with pressure ulcers have an increase in their hospital stay from 4 to 31 days. This increase involves pain and infection and eventually can play a part in a patient's mental image. A patient's quality of life changes significantly, taking a toll on them physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. According to the Emergency Care Research Center of England, the risk of death is 2 to 6 times higher for patients with pressure ulcers than for patients without pressure ulcers. (Hetmatpou et al. 2018)
Current practice related to the problem
There are different guidelines as to how a nurse should prevent and treat a pressure ulcer, depending on the facility that one works at, but there are some standard guidelines that can be found on the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panels website. A patient needs to have a routine that is regular where turning is performed every 2 hours. During the turning, the patient's weight needs to be distributed from high-risk areas such as the sacrum, bumps of the ASIS, heels, trochanter, occipital, and shoulder, and during the turning inspection of the skin should be performed to see if any skin breakdown has occurred. A patient needs to be well nourished. Malnutrition can aid in the breakdown of a patient's skin. Clean the skin immediately after a patient has been incontinent and use skin cleansers that are PH balanced. Use skin moisturizers on areas of dry skin. And make sure to educate and involve the family about pressure ulcers and how to reduce pressure ulcers. (NPUAP 2019)
Impact of the problem and/or patients cultural background
Pressure ulcers are a problem that affect everyone. It affects the nursing staff, the facilities, and especially the patient. And no area is immune from dealing with pressure ulcers. A study done by Baernholdt et al. 2019, that was performed over a 4-year time period delved into both urban and rural hospitals to see how pressure ulc...
