Nurse Intervention To Prevent Pressure Ulcer (synthesis Assignment)

Nurse Intervention To Prevent Pressure Ulcer
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NURSE INTERVENTION TO PREVENT PRESSURE ULCER
Abstract
Pressure ulcers have been reported to be the second deadly disease. Most of the patients stay long in hospitals and incur high cost of treatment and sometimes succumb to the disease. The condition affects skin, bones and cartilages. Pressure ulcers are categorized with acute pains from affected bones and wounds. The treatment calls for surgery for the removal of the damaged tissues which is done by different medical practitioners depending on the affected area. A number of researches have been done to permanently cure the disease which much affects the elderly and immobile persons. The cost of treatment is high and few of the cases are successful. Nurses have therefore come up with various prevention methods that can be used to prevent the prevalence of pressure ulcers such as the use of air fluidized therapy beds to postoperative cardiovascular patients. The prevention methods are cost effective compared to the treatment cost. Some prevention methods used by nurses can be practiced by persons with informal education such as turning the patient at every two or three hours.
Clinical problem
Pressure ulcers can affect anyone regardless of age though commonly associated with the elderly or patients with other conditions such as long term spinal cord injury that make them immobile. The rate of survival is very low if the condition is at third stage and above. Nurses can intervene to control the condition
Purpose of the paper
The purpose of the paper is to provide alternative methods that nurses can use to prevent occurrence of pressure ulcers and reduce the effects of the disease in the already affected patients.
Search Engines: PubMed, CINAHL, PubMed, omniMedicasearch.com. ClinicalTrials.gov
Keywords Used: Pressure ulcers, nurses, bed sores
Results
Nurses intervention can help reduce pressure ulcers such as repositioning patients after three hours and improvise therapy beds.
Conclusion
The treatment process of pressure ulcers is long and expensive. Risk assessment scales for pressure ulcers can therefore be used by nurses to prevent its spread and impact. Air fluidized reduces the risk of postoperative cardiovascular patients to develop pressure ulcers. Though the cost of the beds is high, from the research it is evident that the treatment process of pressure ulcers is higher. The repositioning method where a patient is tilted 30 degrees is easy and cost effective.
Introduction
Pressure ulcers, also called bed sores or decubitus ulcers are skin wounds which may be caused by temperature humidity, continence, aging, medication or unrelieved pressure. Pressure ulcers can affect any part of the body including bones or cartilages such as knees, elbows, ankles and sacrum. Between 1992 and 2006, patients with pressure ulcers increased with nearly 80%. Most of them develop...