Stop Them Before They Start | Clinical Resource

Pressure injuries are painful, quite often increase patient lengths of stay and carry an annual mortality rate of nearly 60,000.

Decubitus ulcers. Bedsores. Pressure injuries. The name has changed but the problem hasn’t. The number of people afflicted with pressure injuries each year continues to hover at two and a half million while hospitals shell out billions on treatment. But it’s the toll that pressure injuries take on patients and healthcare providers — both physical and psychological — that makes them so traumatic. Promoting awareness of the problem is critical, which is why on November 16^th, we observe Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day.

Pressure injuries are painful, quite often increase patient lengths of stay and carry an annual mortality rate of nearly 60,000. It stands to reason why prevention may be the wisest choice.

The importance of pressure injury prevention certainly extends beyond a single day, but it’s a start. Patients at risk for skin breakdown most likely came to the hospital for other conditions. But a pressure injury won’t wait until it’s convenient to rear its ugly head. Just ask a WOC nurse! Promoted by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day lends a voice to the fight!

Creating awareness around the enormity of the problem is a step in the right direction. While pressure injuries may be deemed secondary afflictions, the outcomes can be devastating.

Preventing the problems before they begin makes good sense. At the very core, hospitals are in the business of healing. Patient satisfaction means something. And good patient care alone is the best reason to prevent pressure injury formation.

Shedding light on this indiscriminate problem, even for a day, serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting skin. It is, after all, the largest organ in the human body. So please join as we at EHOB observe Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day. Today and every day. Click for solutions to help prevent the preventable.

https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/resource/pressureulcer/tool/index.html#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%20more%20than%202.5,and%20increased%20health%20care%20utilization

Padula WV, Delarmente BA. The national cost of hospital-acquired pressure injuries in the United States. Int Wound J. 2019 Jun;16(3):634-640. doi: 10.1111/iwj.13071. Epub 2019 Jan 28. PMID: 30693644; PMCID: PMC794854

Jaul, E., Barron, J., Rosenzweig, J.P. et al. An overview of co-morbidities and the development of pressure ulcers among older adults. BMC Geriatr 18, 305 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-018-0997-7

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/an-ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure-/5326585.html

https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/resource/pressureulcer/tool/pu1.html

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