Can a Strategy Checklist Help Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries?

A surgical intensive care unit saw lower numbers of hospital-acquired pressure injuries after the staff started using a checklist, according to a poster to be presented at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring.¹
 
As the poster notes, the 24-bed surgical intensive care unit had a consistent trend of high rates of hospital-acquired pressure injuries. Researchers implemented a pressure injury bundle checklist to ensure staff used the necessary evidence-based strategies to reduce the number of hospital-acquired pressure injuries.
 
The poster notes nurses, certified nursing assistants, and respiratory therapists were educated on the checklist. In addition, copies of the checklist were placed at the nurse’s station, and each staff member checked off the components that were completed throughout the shift. Checklists were compared weekly to the total number of patients in the unit within that week to measure adherence and researchers tracked the number of monthly hospital-acquired pressure injuries in the unit to measure the impact of the checklist.
 
Results showed 100% staff were educated on the checklist and its process and within 13 weeks of implementation, there w 50% compliance, notes the poster. Researchers added that within 13 weeks, the number of monthly pressure injuries acquired in the unit decreased by 50%.
 
Reference
 
1. Huffines M. Implementing a checklist to reduce hospital acquired pressure injuries. Presented at Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring, April 27–30, 2023.