Developing an Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Standard | Nursing Assignment

Running head: NURSING
Pressure ulcer
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

NURSING1
Developing an EBP standard
Evidence based practice (EBP) is reliant on scientific facts that from strong deductive
or inductive opinions for decision-making and guidance. The importance of EBP in
healthcare can be accredited to the fact that it helps in delivery of most effective care, with
the prime objective of enhancing patient outcomes (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). It also
ensures wise usage of finite health resources, and consideration of relevant evidences while
making decisions. The EBP standard in this case will focus on educating nurses on strategies
that need to be adopted for the effective prevention and management of pressure ulcers. The
education program will be implemented in the form of workshops, where nurses will have to
attend multimedia presentations for two days. These presentations will cover a wide range of
factors for reflecting the complex and multifactorial nature of pressure ulcer such as, risk
factors, underlying pathophysiology of pressure ulcer, risk assessment tool application like
Braden assessment scale, stage identification, skin care, skin assessment, selection,
application of pressure restructuring equipment, patient positioning for decreasing pressure,
friction damage, and shear, accountabilities of multidisciplinary team workers, and patient
education (Henry & Foronda, 2017).
The next intervention would encompass usage of the Pressure Ulcer Knowledge
Assessment Tool (PUKAT). This tool helps in determining the knowledge of nurses in
pressure ulcer prevention and consists of 26 items that had been formulated by Beckman and
colleagues. The nurses will be asked to demonstrate their familiarity and awareness in six
domains of development and etiology (six items), decrease in shear/pressure (seven items),
nutrition (one item),risk assessment (two items), observation and classification (five items),
and decrease in shear/pressure duration (five items) (Manderlier et al., 2017). Presence of
score not less than 16 out of 26 would suggest that the nurses have satisfactory level of
acquaintance and expertise on pressure ulcer. The third intervention will focus on display and

NURSING2
distribution of brochures at workstation of nurses, break rooms and the hallways that can be
easily accessed and reviewed by the nurses, thereby increasing their knowledge on pressure
ulcer management and prevention. Additionally, effectiveness of the brochure can also be
enhanced by adding relevant pictures on different stages of pressure ulcer (Greene, Greene,
Engel & Wood, 2019). Thus, the brochures will help the nurse remain updated about new and
best interventions for pressure ulcer management, in addition to informing them about the
clinical safety of the interventions. These printed materials will be accessible, inexpensive
and convenient to use, thus will prove beneficial in increasing literacy of the nurses.
Implication
Pressure ulcer has been identified as a major burden on both patients as well as
healthcare providers and failure to effectively manage the condition substantially increases
healthcare costs and patient readmission rates (Al-Hashemi et al., 2019). There is a growing
body of evidence on different prevention strategies for pressure ulcer, however, none of the
evidences provide conclusive remarks on the best strategy that can be integrated across
healthcare settings. This calls for the need of exploring evidences for improving the nursing
practice. The findings discussed in this study will prove beneficial in creating the opportunity
for future researchers to investigate evidences for the management of pressure ulcer in
nursing homes.
Nursing education has been identified imperative for pressure ulcer prevention since
the nurses who act as frontline care providers are expected to be well-informed and in a
position to organize the care team (Oermann & Gaberson, 2016). Findings from this study
will act effective in helping nurses remain up-to-date on the contemporary pressure ulcer
treatment guidelines and protocols. They will understand the significance and steps required
for checking the skin integrity of patients for the presence of inflammation or open wounds.
Not only will the study findings educate the nurses on patient mobility, but will also help