Pressure Ulcer Care Assignment 2022

Running head: PRESSURE ULCER CARE 1
Pressure Ulcer Care
Name
Institution

PRESSURE ULCER CARE 2
Pressure ulcers can be avoided if the necessary preventive mechanisms are in place.
They are breakages in skin due to constant pressure on specific pressure points. The breakage
is equitable to tissue necrosis that is attributed to axed supply of nutrients and oxygen supply
as well as tissue ischaemia. The principles of clinical governance are an important facet of
healthcare as they act a reference point to ensure that health care is standard and of quality.
Thereby, while focusing on effective provision of pressure area care, the paper will highlight
the application of clinical governance principles to attain the aforementioned goal.
Pressure ulcers are a salient problem for individuals with immobility issues, and
despite there being an effective risk assessment system, the facility is always grappling with a
high prevalence rate that increases healthcare costs, places an unnecessary burden on the
facility, and causes stress to both patient and family. Other than immobility, there are other
factors linked to pressure ulcers. These factors form the basis for problem identification in
failing to adequately prevent and manage pressure ulcers in a hospital setting. In the hospital
setting under analysis, due to limited resources in terms of personnel and equipment,
vulnerable individuals are bound to stay in one position for too long. The facility lacks an
effective mechanism to ensure the sustained and active prevention of pressure ulcers which
could be attributed to limited resources, as advocated by the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (n. d.). A prevention implementation team should be set-up, but in view of the
facility’s structure, collaboration with the family is the best choice. However, the family
members should be taken through their role an accountability to ensure the safety of all
individuals, including the patient, staff, and themselves (“Clinical Governance,” 2012). In
reference to the principles of clinical governance, the patient is always first and partnership
between the healthcare providers and family care givers should form the basis for their care.
The family should be involved in the healthcare process as much for such vulnerable
individuals so that the individuals can continuously engage the patients in different positions.

PRESSURE ULCER CARE 3
However, while doing so, evidence suggests that specialized beds are more effective in the
prevention of pressure ulcers as opposed to conventional beds. However, the facility does not
have these specialized beds to help in the maintaining tissue oxygen tension better around the
pressure points (weight bearing tissues) (Agrawal & Chauhan, 2012). The fact that nurses
tend to be overwhelmed executing their duties, there is need to develop a strategy through
which family caregivers can be allowed to aid in prevention of ulcers by ensuring that they
are ever present at the bedside.
Hence, the proposed project seeks to empower and involve family care givers in
providing care to individuals who are vulnerable to pressure ulcers. Also, a management team
made of nursing leaders in the different departments will be involved in supervising the
activities of the family caregivers. Also, each nurse leader will brief a family caregiver on the
concept of pressure ulcer, etiology, required management, and role of the caregiver, every
time an at-risk patient is identified. The project entails developing a committee of
stakeholders to spearhead the project and ensure it runs successfully till the end. The project’s
objectives are to increase the knowledge of the family care governs on the concept of
pressure ulcers, their etiology, management, and their role in the management process as the
main goal is to prevent these ulcers. Again, a pressure ulcer prevention unit comprising of the
nurse leaders will be developed as these will be responsible for supervising the family
caregivers and addressing their needs as well as those of the patients. Also, the project will
target the hospital’s administration to negotiate the involvement of the family by allowing
them to be with the patient at all times and alert the nurse when necessary. Some of the
patients may have lost sensation and this only aggravates the severity of the problem. Hence,
they need more attention and care and involving the family members would help to manage
the ulcers which would help to supplement the general care, resulting in better prognosis.