(EBP-005) Leveraging Technology: Advancing the Science in Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury

Golda Manalili, DNP,MSN,RN BC – Executive Director, Patient Care Services, General Medicine, University Health

Introduction: The incidence of hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) may have detrimental effect on the patients' quality of life and recovery. The project site had no consistent process to reduce HAPIs, so an evidence-based was sought.

Methods: The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental quality improvement project was to determine if or to what degree the translation of Bharucha et al.'s research on a noninvasive enhancement system would impact the incidence of HAPI when compared to current practice among MICU patients of an acute care facility in Texas over four weeks.

Results: The results showed a decline in the pressure injury rate from 5.1% in the comparison group (n=2 out of 39) to 0.0% in the implementation group (n = 0 out of 72), x2 (1, N = 111) = 3.76, p =.039. The p-value is less than .05, which indicates that the decrease in the incidence of pressure injuries was statistically significant. Clinical significance was supported by the 5.1% reduction decline in incidence of pressure injuries after the intervention.

Discussion: The data collection was four weeks, and the trial was 12 weeks without incidents of pressure injury.   Additional projects should also focus on reperfusion injuries in the development of HAPIs to broaden the knowledge of healthcare staff on this pathogenic process and provide information on how to manage it effectively.

Trademarked Items:

References: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). (2017). Pressure injury prevention program implementation guide. https://www.ahrq.gov/ professionals/systems/hospital/pressure injurypxtraining/implguide.html  
Bharucha, J. B., Seaman, L., Powers, M., Kelly, E., Seaman, R., Forcier, L., McGinnis, J., Nodiff, I., Pawlak, B., Snyder, S., Nodiff, S., Patel, R., Squitieri, R., & Wang, L. (2018). A prospective randomized clinical trial of a novel, noninvasive perfusion enhancement system for the Prevention of Hospital-acquired sacral pressure injuries. Journal of Wound, Ostomy & Continence Nursing, 45(4), 310–318. https://doi.org/10.1097/won.0000000000000450
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