Pressure Ulcer Prevention Essay #2

Pressure Ulcer Prevention
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Introduction
Pressure ulcer which is better known as bed sores, refers to a condition of the skin that comes as result of the skin being overly pressed over a long period of time. When the skin is subjected to a lot of pressure for a long time, there is interference with the blood flow. Usually, the section of the skin that is hard pressed does not receive proper or enough portion of the blood it ought to. If this scenario continues, the lack of enough blood in that section leads to a slow death as a result of inactivity. Eventually that part completely dies and begins to decay resulting to a patient suffering from sores (Streiner & Norman, 2008).. It is these sores that referred to as bed sores as patients who are bedridden often suffer from this condition. Perhaps due to little knowledge regarding the condition, quite considerable numberof patients in American hospitals beds have suffered from this condition. Healthcarepractitioners have a duty to ensure that patients who are hospitalized and are unable to move themselves are aided in order to prevent pressure ulcers. In this discussion, the issue of pressure ulcers will be discussed in great details. Further, the discussion will look at some of the possible ways in which this problem can be solved and prevented.
Background Information
Failure to give the issue proper focus and attention that it deserves had led to an increase in cases of people suffering from the same. While hospitals have been found culpable of neglecting this area, nursing homes appear to be the worst hit. The elderly have been found to constitute a big percentage. According to researches, in every ten homes of the elderly, there is at least more than one case of severe pressure ulcers. In some settings the percentage of prevalence is up to an alarming 28%. An even greater alarming revelation is that pressure ulcers can actually lead to death a fact that many I the healthcare setting appear either not know or choose to ignore.
Cause of the Problem and the impact thereof
One of the main causes of the problem is certainly lack of proper care by clinicians to their patients. By the time a patient is suffering from pressure ulcers, it means that there has been a huge level of negligence on the part of the nursing fraternity. A patient ought to be aided to turn from time to time especially if their initial condition inhibits their mobility mechanism (Streiner & Norman, 2008). Pressure ulcers occurs to patients who are bed ridden and cannot on their own make any move or turn. When they stay in one position for a prolonged period of time, they develop pressure ulcers. Health practitioners have been largely faulted as negligent thereby leading to development of pressure ulcers. There are certainly many factors that directly contribute to the said neglect.
The first factor is lack of adequate knowledge on the impending danger that comes with not assisting patients. Some of those in the healthcare industry are not aware that failure to assist patients will directly lead to development of bed sores. In other cases, shortage of staff can often lead to this crisis. This is where a health facility has very few nurses making th...