Accountabilities of the nursing profession to prevent pressure ulcers with bedding material - Essay Example

The prevalence of pressure ulcers in skilled care facilities and nursing homes is as high as 23%. An extensive study of acute care facilities reported a prevalence of 9.2 %. (Treatment of Pressure Ulcers, 1994) Fewer than 20% of pressure ulcers occur outside of institutions. (Thomas, 2001) Patients who are at risk of having pressure ulcers are chairfast or bedfast people, elderly or disabled people. People of these categories who are most likely to have pressure ulcers are patients with impaired ability to reposition themselves in chair or bed, patients with friction and shearing, patients who have decreased sensory perception, patients with decreased nutritional intake , patients with excessive exposure to moisture.

(Olshansky, 1993) Pressure ulcers prevention is a controversial issue. Measures taken to prevent pressure ulcers are first of all recognition of the risks, decrease of pressure, appropriate nutrition, avoiding bed rest all the time. Dr. Michael Kosiak (1991), a leading authority in the area of pressure ulcers, says, “Pressure ulcers are entirely preventable. They need not and should not occur. Above all, the patient and the medical staff must be made to realize that pressure ulcers can be prevented, but that no device or treatment measures, regardless of their cost or design, will effectively substitute for informed conscientious skin care.

” (Olshansky, 1993) Still the problem of pressure ulcers exists and despite the fact that a great number of researches on this issue have been conducted, the effectiveness of pressure ulcers prevention is arguable. Is it inaccessibility to information of caregivers or is it the lack of money or shortage of staff that contribute to problem of high ulcer pressure incidence? Olshansky (1993) comes to conclusion that to prevent pressure ulcers the emphasis must shift from assessing patient to assessing caregivers.

Besides the assessment of patients