Pressure Injury Procedure Policy for Nursing Aged Care Patients in Australia

Running head: NURSING 1
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According to the Australian wound management, the rate of pressure injury has been
increasing over the years due to various factors such as new sets of standards, and ignorance
among patients. A pressure injury can be defined as a localized injury to the underlying tissue of
the skin or the skin itself that is usually over bony prominence. This injury usually develops as a
result of friction and shearing forces, pressure, age-related skin, decreased mobility and could
also be because of poor nutrition. It was previously known as bed sore, pressure ulcer or
decubitus ulcer. Many of these injuries are preventable and it is also known that they take a long
period to heal which affects the quality of life of the patients through susceptibility to pain, mood
disturbance, sleep and infections (Erin, 2012). They also have an impact on mobility,
rehabilitation and also a long term quality of life. According to the Australian Department of
Health. (2017), medical practitioners should work together to enable the people understand how
they can prevent themselves from this illness. It also asserts that Pressure injuries prevention is a
responsibility of all health staff regardless of their position or location where they implement
several prevention strategies which are aimed at lowering the risk of pressure injuries aided by
the pressure injury prevention policy created to lower the illness’s rates. However, despite the
prevention strategies, these injuries still occur in aged patients due to the failing skin in the end
stages of their life. In this essay, we shall discuss how this pressure injury procedure policy can
be accessed so as to guide in the nursing of aged care patients in Australia. We shall also
compare the findings in this essay with the up-to-date best practice evidence in Australia.
According to the Nursing and midwifery board of Australia (2016), pressure injury
procedure policy enables the nurses, who play a crucial role in providing care for the pressure
injury patients, and also leading line in prevention, management and assessment of this issue, to
understand pressure injury causes and risks by giving them tools required to assess the injuries

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correctly to ensure that patient outcomes are successful. It also enables intensive care nursing
which reduces complications which improves patient outcomes. Once, pressure injuries were
thought to be unavoidable incidents or occurrences, Emergency Nurses Association stated
otherwise when they claimed that injuries usually follow a predictable pattern which makes them
preventable (Nursing and midwifery board of Australia, 2016). Also, if pressure injuries risk
factors are seen early, instituting appropriate interventions of preventions is the best way to
tackle it. This policy states that keeping the patients skin dry and clean will help a lot in
preventing pressure injuries. It also provides a continence plan for the aged care patients with
incontinence that should be implemented using external or internal urine collection devices.
Pressure injury policy also indicates that, adult briefs should be avoided whenever
possible as they are a source of moisture concealment and retention leading to skin damage, for
aged patients with incontinence, which predisposes them to pressure injuries. There is also
provision for the aged people who barely move when asleep, stating that they should be
repositioned frequently as sleeping in the same position also predispose them to the injuries
(Bliss, 2017). Generally, pressure injury policy ensures that the aged care patients are well taken
care of reducing the occurrence of pressure injuries which they highly prone to due to the skin
failure some of them experience. It also allow nurses to use pressure relieving devices which
supports body weight redistribution but doesn’t negate the need for regular pressure area care as
some of the high risk aged patients who use the pressure relieving devices might pave way for a
decrease in turning frequency overnight to ensure sleeping patterns that are adequate hence it
should be assessed on an individual basis to all the patients in the aged care centre.
Pressure injury policy also establishes the need for the aged patients with considerable
mobility changes to have goals of care which are established by a multidisciplinary team