Preventing Pressure Ulcers

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Recommended: Quality improvement and pressure ulcers

Introduction
The aim of the Healthcare Quality Strategy (HQS) is to deliver excellent healthcare to the citizens of Scotland and brand NHS Scotland as a world leading care provider (Scottish Government, 2010). An improvement intervention examined in the HQS is the prevention of pressure ulcers (PUs). Using the Gibbs (1988) framework, this essay will demonstrate how I was involved in this intervention by applying my skills of compassion, person-centred care and teamwork. I have chosen PU prevention as the subject for this reflection; since, the majority of PUs are preventable (Watret and Middler, 2012) and the cost of treating them ranges from £1,214 to £14,108 (Dealey, Posnett and Walker, 2012). Supporting the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2011) confidentiality guidelines, the pseudonym “Ruby” has been used.

Description
In my practice learning environment (PLE), I encountered Ruby, a ninety year old lady who had suffered a stroke. The rationale for choosing Ruby for this reflection is that she had a Waterlow score of eighteen on admission. The intrinsic factors contributing to the high Waterlow score included her age, skin integrity, nutritional status, mobility, faecal continence and special risk due to her left cerebellar stroke (Waterlow, 2005). Ruby’s post stroke symptoms included; weakness in her right limbs, frustration over losing independence and a right visual field deficit. Since, these symptoms can contribute to the development of PUs (Suttipong and Sindhu, 2012); I knew the nursing staff and I must make PU prevention a priority in Ruby’s care planning. Through showing compassion and taking a person-centred approach by involving Ruby and her family in decisions, as a team, we successfully put evidence based PU...

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...discussed by the team. However, I could have also given them the NHS QIS (n.d.) Preventing PU patient information leaflet; such information leaflets deliver written communication which can empower individuals to make the correct choices regarding their care (Garner, Ning, and Francis, 2012). When this situation arises again, I will ensure I follow identical prevention strategies, since, they are obviously successful.
Action Plan
Since, PU prevention is an integral part of nursing care; I will encounter it in my future practice. Therefore, to improve my understanding I will familiarise myself with the NHS QIS (2009) Best Practice Statement on PU management and prevention. Furthermore, I will search the Cinahl database for nursing journals relating to compassion and person centred care to enhance my knowledge, and subsequently meet the aims of the HQS in future PLEs.

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