Pressure Ulcers

Despite the prevalence of pressure ulcers, preventive strategies result in a 34% to 50% decrease in healthcare facility acquired ulcers (Langemo, et al., 2003). The prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers falls within the realm of nursing practice. However, it is vital that healthcare facilities develop clinical guidelines for treating and preventing pressure ulcers. Because of the unnecessary physical, psychological, and financial consequences that result due to pressure ulcers, I have chosen a focus on clinical guidelines for their prevention and treatment.

According to Lewis, Pearson, and Ward (2003), a major focus of clinicians, nurses, and healthcare workers should be ôthe improvement of prevention strategies to minimize the health and financial impact of pressure ulcersö (p. 92). The authors in this study provide a qualitative research design of a literature review on previously published litera

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e of specific pharmacological agents (Wolverton, et al., 2005, pp. 56-57). Data were collected from weekly skin care rounds. An analysis of data demonstrated that the nursing staff needed further focus on three areas; daily assessment with the Braden Scale, prevention of NPU beginning on the day of admission, and the effect of sedation on patient mobility (Wolverton, et al., 2005). This research has implications for current practice because it demonstrates that nursing practice can be improved through education and guidelines that focus on areas of shortcoming in delivery of care. Braden and Maklebust (2005) provide a literature review that focuses on the development of policies that will guide practitioners in the assessment and prevention of pressure ulcers. The use of the Braden Scale is a global practice for helping to assess patient likelihood for developing pressure ulcers. Braden and Maklebust (2005) found that while the large majority of practitioners understand the importance of pressure ulcer risk assessment using the Braden Scale ômost are uncertain about why and how it should be usedö (p. 1). This has significant implications for current practice, primarily because the use of the Braden Scale for Predicting Press
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1627
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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