Nurse Safety Scholar Blog on Pressure Ulcers

Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (JCR) and Hill-Rom have created the Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence Program to translate safe patient care from evidence to the bedside. The emphasis of this unique partnership is to develop tools and best practices to maintain skin integrity and prevent pressure ulcers. The Pressure Ulcer Prevention Project (PUPP) was kicked off by our first Nurse Safety Scholar, Irene Jankowski.  The second phase of the project is led by Diane Whitworth.  Visit this blog regularly as the scholars share thoughts, outcomes and performance improvement project findings.  

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Final Blog

• 12/12/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 297 Views
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Dear colleagues, As we transition to the end of final phase to the JCR/Hill-Rom Nurse Pressure Ulcer Prevention Project it is indeed bittersweet.  So much good work has come from the project and new connections have been forged.  But, as with all good things it must come to an end.  Therefore, it is with great pleasure and immense respect that I thank my fellow scholars Irene Jankowski and... more >>

Family as Caregivers: Teaching Pressure Ulcer Prevention

• 11/2/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 478 Views
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Teaching strategies to prevent pressure ulcers have historically been focused on nurses, assistive personnel, physicians, and other traditional healthcare providers. Families and caregivers are increasingly better informed about their loved one’s health care and should be educated about pressure ulcer prevention as well. Often it is the family or caregiver that is present at the bedside offeri... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team Development - 5th in a Series: Assistive Personnel as Your First Line

• 10/25/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 345 Views
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Assistive personnel (i.e., nursing assistants, patient care technicians) are key stakeholders in the work to prevent pressure ulcers. These are often the front-line personnel who have contact with the patient or facility resident in day-to-day practice and the numbers of interactions are numerous, and may be related to toileting, repositioning, bathing, and assistance with activi... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team Development- 4th in a Series:

• 9/20/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 465 Views
• 1 Comments
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Optimal nutrition is considered basic to the management of health. The relationship between nutrition, skin health, pressure ulcer prevention (PUP), and wound healing should be considered fundamental to PUP practices. Anything less than optimal nutrition may place skin health at risk and/or further compromise healing. In order to promote nutritional support education and nutrition health best ... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team Development- 3rd in a Series: Physician Presence

• 9/7/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 449 Views
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When planning the development of your Pressure Ulcer Prevention (PUP) team, it is imperative to engage the physician as a resource and liaison. The physician can offer support to help bridge the translation of established best practice PUP guidelines and care resources to the medical teams. The physician role should include collaboration between physician groups, families, and the PUP team... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team-2nd in a Series: Leading the Team

• 8/11/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 487 Views
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Behind every strong, well functioning team is a strong leader or group of leaders. Developing your pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) team requires leadership to help coordinate the team, partnering with the members to collaborate on a plan and mechanisms involved to develop and promote PUP programs.  It is important to identify leadership who is professional, knowledgeable, competent, and provid... more >>

Developing a Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team - 1st in a Series

• 7/18/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 673 Views
• 2 Comments
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Pressure ulcer prevention and identifying strategies to implement a pressure ulcer prevention program is a priority and important in our work to promote patient safety. In the webinar last week, I mentioned the Joint Commission Resources (JCR) Pressure Ulcer Prevention Program (PUPP) Assessment Survey. The survey is part of the pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) project that JCR and Hill-Rom have... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team Development - Thinking Big Starting Small

• 7/6/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 575 Views
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This past week we had a chance to hear ideas about moving forward in developing and implementing a pressure ulcer prevention team. I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you to further discuss and dialogue about the proposed steps and recommendations to implement an effective team. I think we all agree there are many common barriers and gaps in implementing pressure ulcer prevention progr... more >>

Providing Safe Handoffs Through Optimal Communication

• 6/17/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 571 Views
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Providing a safe and comfortable transport of patients throughout the hospital and between departments requires optimal communication. Receiving a simple report about critical components necessary to keep a patient safe while in the temporary hands of other departments are an imperative step to achieving safety. How does your facility ensure effective communication between handoffs? Do all pat... more >>

Poster Presentations Highlight Pressure Ulcer Prevention

• 6/8/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 776 Views
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Pressure Ulcer Prevention Projects were the focus of numerous poster presentations at the WOCN conference today. Our own Michael Willis, JCR/Hill-Rom project site leader for Beth Israel Medical Center presented, A Nurse-Driven Skin Saver Pilot Performance Improvement Project: Collecting and transforming data into quality. The poster outlined the process of how unit-based pressure ulcer p... more >>

Excerpts From the WOCN 43rd Annual Conference

• 6/7/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 593 Views
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Greetings from the exciting and culture filled city of New Orleans! The WOCN conference consistently provides many opportunities to meet and network with fellow professional leaders in wound, ostomy, and continence care. The venue is a vehicle for exploring current practices, research findings, case studies, health care reform, health policy, and professional practice to name a few.  The confe... more >>

At the WOCN in New Orleans

• 6/6/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 555 Views
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I hope you are enjoying the 43rd annual Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Conference in New Orleans.  We are fortunate this year to have our Nurse Safety Scholar, Cecilia Zamarripa, present a poster (#5224).  It reviews the elements of a successful PUPP.  In addition, Cece will have a second poster (#5219) presenting information about the use of a risk assessment tool to prevent PU.  Mic... more >>

Read All About It

• 6/2/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 581 Views
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Pressure ulcers and their prevention continue to be a quality and safety focus. I invite you to read the published work of our former nurse scholar Irene Jankowski and Deb Nadzam, JCR Project Director, AHRQ Knowledge Transfer/Implementation. In this article, you will find information about safety focused best practices associated with pressure ulcer prevention.  Enjoy the reading, I did!... more >>

Getting the Grade

• 5/24/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 632 Views
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You may have heard about the healthcare ratings reported by HealthGrades, an independent health care ratings organization. The ratings report is available via the Internet and provides selective information such as comparisons of hospitals, profiling physicians, and offering reports for several varieties of medication costs. Recently, HealthGrades has been in the news highlighting ... more >>

Pressure Ulcer Prevention - Resources for Learning

• 5/4/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 861 Views
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I had the opportunity to attend the National Pressure Ulcer Panel (NPUAP) 2011 conference February 25-26 and I would like to share some of the highlights presented by the conference speakers.  Attending this conferences provided information from experts in pressure ulcer prevention research, education, and public policy.  The keynote speaker Dr. Ayello presented the New Jersey Hospital Associa... more >>

And the Survey Says!

• 4/8/2011
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 772 Views
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You may have noticed JCR has implemented several projects to focus on translating safe patient care practices from evidence to the bedside. One such project is the JCR and Hill-Rom Pressure Ulcer Prevention Project (PUPP) assessment tool used to review hospital assessment programs and identify pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) program elements in place as well as identifying program ... more >>

Working Together to Save Skin

• 12/7/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 1467 Views
• 2 Comments
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It is with an enormous sense of respect and pride that I step into the role of Nurse Safety Scholar in Residence. My predecessors Irene and Diane, both dynamic leaders, have laid a foundation for practices we can build upon, stimulating inquiry related to nursing practice and guidance toward the common goal of preventing pressure ulcers.  Whether it is determining turning frequen... more >>

Conference Notes and Turning Schedules

• 10/14/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 3952 Views
• 2 Comments
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Attending the national conference (Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care) is always an exciting endeavor and presenting this year enhanced the experience. Being among my colleagues to discuss issues that are so relevant to our practice, and learning about new research studies enables me to broaden my knowledge. In turn, sharing this knowledge generates even more... more >>

Congratulations to Diane Whitworth, RN, CWOCN

• 9/29/2010
• Author: JCR Team
• 3926 Views
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Congratulations to Diane Whitworth, RN, CWOCN, JCR’s Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence, for being selected to present at the Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care, September 30 – October 3 in Orlando, Florida. Ms. Whitworth is a Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurse at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia where she is responsible for her organization’... more >>

Education - Bridge to Prevention

• 8/27/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 5511 Views
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Common gaps identified in all four project sites involve the education of the care delivery team in Pressure Ulcer Prevention. I use this term purposefully to capture not only the RN’s role, but also the interdisciplinary staff roles responsible for the production, or in this case, the positive outcomes. A critical component of pressure ulcer prevention is making sure the... more >>

Beginning My Journey as Nurse Safety Scholar

• 7/29/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 6913 Views
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Assuming my role as Nurse Safety Scholar has been both challenging and very rewarding. Meeting and working with the JCR-Hill-Rom steering committee has been a privilege. Their commitment to patient safety and health care quality is inspiring, and their dedication and focus is unrelenting. Irene, I cannot thank you enough for your guidance and friendship. What a remarkable WOCN you are! ... more >>

Lessons Learned

• 3/4/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 14682 Views
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My final month as the JCR/Hill-Rom Nurse Scholar is here and I leave this project with a greater appreciation for the hard work that nurses and nursing assistants do every day as they provide the best possible care for their patients. Every day, nurses all over the world are faced with more and more responsibilities. Nurses work hard to protect patients from misin... more >>

Diagnosing a pressure ulcer: Barrier to prevention?

• 1/13/2010
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 17561 Views
• 2 Comments
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Diagnosing a pressure ulcer: Barrier to prevention? Correctly diagnosing a pressure ulcer can be complicated. In fact there are times when even the wound care experts are unsure of the etiology of a wound, causing debate over whether or not to refer to a wound as a pressure ulcer. Questions arise when a clear history of the wound is not obtainable, or w... more >>

The Physician's Role in Preventing Pressure Ulcers

• 10/16/2009
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 23376 Views
• 8 Comments
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It is well accepted that doctors have a role in the treatment of pressure ulcers, but what about prevention? I’ve been reviewing various hospitals’ pressure ulcer prevention programs and am struck by what I see as an important team member who seems to be absent—doctors. Do doctors have a role in pressure ulcer prevention? Are doctors on... more >>

Fall update: The project begins

• 9/9/2009
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 23724 Views
• 5 Comments
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Fall update: The project begins – Act I: Setting the Stage - Meeting the Players                                                      Act II:  On-site Visits - Identifying the Problems                                  ... more >>

July Update and Hospital Site Selection

• 7/29/2009
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 24841 Views
• 2 Comments
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    In just two weeks we will be entering the 4th month of this project. During the summer months we should be taking some time off and enjoying the weather and time with family. The importance of protecting patients from injuries never stops, no matter the season. Caring for hospitalized patients is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week process, so prevention strategies have to carry ov... more >>

Journey Update and Literature Review

• 6/4/2009
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 27688 Views
• 3 Comments
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    I am just beginning my second month of this year-long project and am still trying to develop a good pace for working half-time as the WOCN for my hospital and working half-time on a project that I hope will find solutions to the barriers to success for pressure ulcer prevention programs. My hospital colleagues and new colleagues at Joint Commission Resources are amazing... more >>

The journey begins

• 5/7/2009
• Author: Nurse Scholar
• 31079 Views
• 31 Comments
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    As a bedside Wound, Ostomy, Continence Specialist, I am convinced that best practices for pressure ulcer prevention can be effective and can lead to prevention of most pressure related injuries. However, I am also aware that there are gaps in the prevention process, probably at the point of clinician/patient contact, that could lead to patient injury and that may interfere with achie... more >>

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