Nursing & Health Care Conference

5 ways healthcare teams can improve how they care for skin injuries

Need evidence skin injuries are a major concern in healthcare? Consider that 2.5 million U.S. patients are afflicted annually.

WORLD NURSING CONGRESS 2019

According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the cost of skin injuries is more than $9.1 billion each year.

The price is even higher, AHRQ reports, because 17,000 lawsuits related to hospital-acquired pressure ulcers are filed each year, second only to wrongful-death suits.

“Skin injuries are extremely prevalent,” said Pamela Damron, MSN, RN, CWON, who has been a certified wound and ostomy nurse for more than two decades. “The cost is very hard on a healthcare system. Patients are coming into the hospital much sicker than they were years ago. They’re already at risk for so many things, and most every patient has two or more comorbidities. And to Medicare, pressure injuries are preventable.”

Damron is the featured presenter of our popular CE webinar course, “It’s Just a Stage 1 Pressure Injury. Or Is It?” She has been a certified wound-ostomy nurse since 1998 and is a nursing instructor at the University of Tennessee Martin.

The 1-hour recorded CE webinar is accredited for nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists and dietitians/nutritionists.

Here are five ways to ensure you and your team are delivering the highest quality of patient skin care.

#1 — Healthcare is a team sport
This phrase is especially true with pressure injuries and wounds.

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#2 — Look from head to toe
Re-positioning patients every two hours is a high priority to avoid pressure injuries, Damron said. The need to examine potential problem areas of the body also is a necessity for healthcare clinicians.

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#3 — Document, document, document

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries are among the conditions considered preventable by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Thus, healthcare facilities are not reimbursed for treating these injuries when they are acquired by a patient in the hospital.

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#4 — Consider where patients are going/coming from

Knowing the path your patients take during their hospital stay can offer helpful clues, Damron said. For example, a patient who spends hours in surgery or getting tests such as an MRI, x-ray or CT scan all will be lying for long periods on hard surfaces. This leads to a greater risk for pressure injuries.

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#5 — Start with a smile
For Damron, learning about a patient begins when entering a room. “You can tell a lot just by smiling at them,” she said.

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