Question

Explore your clinical site and relate one quality improvement (QI) study currently being analyzed. What is benchmarked in the study? What role does the nurse play in the QI study?

Answer 1

One of the important areas in the surgical-ward that requires quality improvement is the prevention of pressure ulcers. The severity of pressure ulcers can be described using stage I to IV, and most of them can be easily prevented by simply rolling the patient (q2h) so their body isn’t constantly applying.

Lack of performing comprehensive skin examination on a regular basis especially on the admission of patients exposes them to acquiring bed sores. Lack of daily examination after admission till discharge contributes to this.

Negligence of the staff members, fake documentation by nurses or PCTs (Patient Care Technicians (PCTs)), patient’s tendency to cooperate with the staff and denying to comply about poor healthcare are other key factors contributing to the high incidence of bed sores. The key elements which will benefit from this process are the patients.

Implementation of “regular visits by the nursing staff” can help to reduce the number of pressure ulcer cases. Appointing a Registered Nurse to monitor the work of nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers will be helpful. Documentation and sharing the information about all the risk factors, a number of cases and evidence-based interventions used can help to prevent the new cases of pressure ulcers.