Assessment and Prevention of Patient Bedsores - Essay Example

Running head: NURSING CARE The Assessment and Prevention of Patient Bed Sores You're This research was compiled to give an overview of a medical issue within the occurrence of bed sores among many bed-ridden patients. The definition of bedsores has been introduced in this research and it has been cohesively intertwined with the various reasons of why bedsores form on patients and what adversities that they can pose to the continuing nursing care of these specific patients as well. It has been documented in this literature that ulcerations of the skin are common on elderly patients who do not have the mobility that they use to. Also, those who have had severe injuries and must stay in an immobile position for an indefinite period of time are prone to getting bed sores as well. These ideas have been included in this research as well as how they are critically assessed. The idea of preventing bed sores is the main theme found within these pages, and there are a myriad of ways one can go about protecting a patient from acquiring these adverse sores. In conclusion the body of this literature reached it's finality by emphasizing how imperative it is to have good nursing care with preventive procedures that help the patient with adversities such as bedsores. The reason this was found to be conclusive was so that it could be ensured the final outcome for the patient could be expected to be a positive one. Nursing Care: The Assessment and Prevention of Patient Bed Sores Bed sores happen to be a very serious complication in patient care. It is readily hard to believe that what is termed a simple bed sore or "pressure sore" can lead to a patient's death but yet, it very well can if a form of proper interventive care and assessments are not carried out right away. This point can be validated in the research done on bed sores through the Mayo Clinic of Health (2005). There is familiarity with the actor Christopher Reeve's but little is known as to his cause of death which ultimately was found to be a bed sore that had developed and gradually proceeded to get progressively worse due to his quadriplegic state. This idea is brought in to this literature in order to give a full and cohesive account as to how severe bed sores or ulcerations of the skin can actually be to the patients' health. Bedsores can progress rather rapidly and cause many complications in the realm of quality patient care but what is found is that they do not have to take place at all. A huge amount of research has been carried out by many experts in health care and it has shown that ulcer injury is a highly significant problem in caring for patients. However, following the preventive care guidelines that are found in various clinical care settings can effectively assist nurses in providing critical care for patients who are more apse to acquire these ulcerations (Lewis et al 2003). Nurses simple have to implement the correct regular assessments of patients and introduce the most efficient preventive measures to reduce these types of patient adversities. Within the country of Australia there is a definite problem with this type of healthcare complication which this literature is essentially pointing out. It is estimated that the preventive care alone is tallying in at $350 million dollars per year, which stresses the significance of the problem and introduces the probability that there needs to be a more definitive means of ensuring less occurrences of these types of ailments in patient care (Lewis et al 2003). Because pressure ulcers normally form on parts of the body that lie immobile and are constantly under the body weight of the patient, the preventive care is far more complicated. Furthermore, another problem that nurses face in preventive treatment of ulcers is the fact that many of these treatment regimens have not been found to be a surefire way of prevention and have even been known to exacerbate the problem far more than what it initially started as (Lewis et al 2003). It has also been determined that even though there exists a high marketability for products to help nurses in ensuring that patients don't get bed sores or skin ulcers, these products have not been thoroughly assessed to guarantee that they will effectively protect and help the patient or be of a high benefit for the nurses either. Therefore, due to the adversities found within trying to prevent bed sores, it is crucial that some logical means be found to actually prevent this from happening way beforehand by trying to keep the patient as mobile as possible despite the underlying circumstances. Because of these extensive issues, health care professionals have become fully aware that quality professional care is essential at admission and at the point of discharge from a health care environment, especially since many nurses and other health care professionals have become strategically aware that bed sores can occur at any time during these points of entrance and exit (Lewis et al 2003). Of course this appears to be one step in the preventive care process and is a positive sign of defense against this type of adversity. There has been some good qualitative research that has suggested proper nutrition among elderly patients could help nurses in providing better care for these patients because it has been found to reduce the incidences of ulcers among this group (Fincuane 2004). Extensive research has shown because elderly people often get sick and don't eat well their bodies suffer from malnutrition which ultimately can lead to the prevalence of bed sores. They are missing important nutrients such as, albumin for one and on top of this they suffer from extreme weight loss (Fincuane 2004). Therefore, if nurses can somehow implement a critical treatment therapy that will guarantee these patients will get the proper nutrition it just might make a positive outcome for them. Already, it has been conceptualized that oral food supplements have been of benefit to elderly patients in reducing body ulcers. Also, patients that were given a diet that was higher in protein seemed to show positive signs of less ulcers on their body which is a great improvement for nurses who are trying to ensure the health of these elderly patients is maintained at a good level. Therefore, if nurses continue providing elderly patients with "careful assistance in eating foods that they like" then there are clear signs that this will begin a road to improvement in the prevention of this health care problem (Fincuane 2004). However, it is also realized that elderly patients who suffer with a central nervous system disease are going to have a more difficult time in gaining treatment to prevent ulcerations through this type of treatment due to the fact that special nutrition is secreted throughout the body by the central nervous system and when there is extensive damage to this area food supplements alone are not going to provide enough interventive care to safeguard these types of patients from developing bed sores (Dennis 1996). Therefore other treatment regimens have to be available as well and this various other methods have been shown to be quite similar to techniques that were in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the main problems with the elderly patients are that their ulcers are often severe and very slow to heal, which further concretes the many problems already in existence. This is regardless of the fact that there are regimens that are effective for some but not as good for others, such as the food treatment remedy. Therefore, there is more of an intensive search for ways to accelerate the wounds healing once it has formed since often they can not be prevented effectively, especially in the elderly and within other patients who are totally immobile. The treatments are varied yet not hard to incorporate and they are techniques that nurses are very familiar with as well. It takes only common sense to properly care for a body sore but it takes more intensive means to guarantee it does not become a health adversity in regards to it getting infected and becoming a causative factor in the patient becoming sicker (Dennis 1996). The most common practices in nursing care today that promote the healing of bed sores is essentially made up of providing topical applications and then properly dressing the wound. However, the dressings have to be changed on a daily basis to prevent infection or the ulceration from worsening. Other therapies include ultraviolet light, sunlight, electric lights, alcohol, and ozone therapy to speed up the main healing process (Dennis 1996). Nurses are also instructed to massage the affected area to keep the remaining tissue stimulated and again to stimulate the healing process. Prevention methods of ulcers are slightly similar to the ways in which nurses and health care professionals work to get the ulcers to heal but the difference here is of course in keeping them from occurring at all. Physical therapy of course is always an option and one that is incorporated into the nurses care treatment regimen. As was stated initially in this research it is imperative to get a patient to move as much as possible, even if they are totally incapacitated and bedridden. Nurses can still get the patient to roll over or work as a team to move the patient themselves. Moving from the bed to a chair is a good way of changing position so that the patients body weight is not always on their side or back where many ulcers do tend to form, especially so on the back (Dennis 1996). Recently a research study was done to clarify whether the application of melatonin would be of benefit for patients at high risk of develop body ulcers or in the healing process itself. It has been found that increased levels of melatonin can in fact reduce the occurrences of body ulcers, especially among the elderly since they are found to have insignificant amounts of melatonin in their bodies due to the effects of aging (Sener et al 2006). By nurses sufficiently applying melatonin in an ointment form onto a patient's skin it is supposed to increase the flow of blood through the skin and possibly prevent lesions from forming on those patients who are found to be almost totally immobile and bedridden. Of course there are various other preventive methods as well but what has thus been proven is the fact that nutrient supplements and ensuring some form of mobility are the most plausible ways of improving the preventive methods of body ulcers on patients. In conclusion, this research has proven that there are a myriad of ways nurses and health care professionals can take on to aid their jobs in ensuring their patients have more positive outcomes, especially in regards to bedsores. Because it has been found that this health care problem is prevalent in various parts of the world there have been many ways of healing, managing, and preventing body ulcers from forming, especially within the care of the elderly since they are more prone to them. In finality, nurses can feel better in their roles when they know adverse occurrences such as bed sores can be effectively controlled and minimized. The main goal of any nurse is to produce a positive outcome for her patient with good quality care. References Dennis, Michael. (1996, 3 October). The Treatment of Decubitius Ulcers: A Century of Misinformation in the Textbooks. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24, 309-316. Finucane, Thomas. (2004, 01 January). Malnutrition and Pressure Ulcers: Data are Still Incomplete. Journal of the American Geriatrics Association, 52, (1): 163. Lewis, Matthew & Pearson, Alan & Ward, Kathy. (2003, 9 April). Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Treatment: Transforming Research Findings into Consensus based Clinical Guidelines. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 9, (2): 92. Mayo Clinic. (2005, 18 March). Bedsores, Pressure Sores. Retrieved May 22, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedsores/DS00570 Sener, Goksel & Sert, Gulten & Sehril, Ozer & Arbak, Serap & Gedlik, Nursal & Dulger, Ayanoglu. (2006, 01 April). Melatonin Protects Against Pressure Ulcer Induced Oxidative Injury of the Skin and Remote Organs in Rats. Journal of Pineal Research, 40, (3): 280-287. Read More