Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Committee Chair
Haley Hoy
Subject(s)
Bedsores--Prevention, Patients--Positioning, Therapeutic positioning equipment
Abstract
Pressure injuries cause 60,000 deaths per year, costing the healthcare system $11 billion dollars annually. Similar death rates are reported from suicide, influenza, and drug overdose and is subsequently labeled a public health crisis; however, pressure injuries receive much less attention. These injuries, caused by a lack of oxygen to tissue over a bony prominence, are due to compression for an extended length of time. Immobility is the most common contributing factor placing patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the highest risk. Despite technological advances in healthcare, hospital-acquired pressure injuries remain an ongoing patient safety issue. Projects that were deemed most successful in decreasing hospital acquired pressure injury (HAPI) prevalence focused on reposition compliance. Since staffing shortages were cited as a major barrier to more frequent pressure offloading of patients, repositioning devices were explored to determine improvement in patient repositioning rates. The purpose of this project was to reduce pressure injury prevalence by using an air-assisted repositioning device making the physical act of turning less cumbersome on healthcare providers. The repositioning device utilized in this project was intended to make the patient approximately 70% lighter, and therefore easier to manipulate in the bed when repositioning, allowing fewer staff members to complete the task. Prior to repositioning device implementation, there was an average of 1.6 pressure injuries per month. During the implementation of the repositioning device, the average pressure injury rate reduced to 0.33 per month. Since pressure injuries remain a huge concern for patient safety, adoption of this device, with its reduction of pressure injuries, could serve as a catalyst for improving patient outcomes in ICU units as well as throughout the entire hospital.
Recommended Citation
Couey, Sara, "Reducing hospital acquired pressure injuries using an air-assisted repositioning device" (2023). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). 71.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dnp/71