A Closer Look at Educating Health Care Assistants in Pressure Injury Prevention

Health care assistants play a large role in preventing pressure injuries in long-term care settings. A poster presented this week at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Fall in Las Vegas focused on the impact of education for health care assistants on their knowledge and skills in preventing pressure injuries.¹
 
Researchers used systematic review methodology and the PRISMA guidelines to search several databases—CINAHL, EMBASE, SCOPUS, MEDLINE and Cochrane Wounds Group Specialist Register and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials—with no limitations on date of publication. The search yielded an initial 449 records, of which 14 met the inclusion criteria.
 
The poster authors note 11 of 14 studies reported outcome measures of health care assistant knowledge scores, with 4 studies reporting a statistically significant improvement in knowledge scores post education intervention. Nine of 14 studies found a statistically significant reduction in prevalence (OR 1.69, P = 0.01) and incidence rates (OR 2.20, 95%, P < 0.0001) post-education intervention, according to the poster.
 
The authors conclude their research affirms the benefits of education of health care assistants on knowledge and skills of pressure injury prevention and on pressure injury incidence. However, the authors do note “broad methodological heterogeneity and low-quality evidence” in the poster’s included studies.
 
Reference
 
1. Patton D. The impact of pressure ulcer prevention education on health care assistants’ knowledge and skills and pressure ulcer incidence in long-term care settings. Poster presented at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Fall, October 14–16, 2022.