UPMC
About UPMC
UPMC is one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States. An $8.1 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UPMC develops and delivers Life Changing Medicine by harnessing the power of technology, translating science into cures, and accelerating the pace of innovation worldwide.
As Pennsylvania’s largest employer, with nearly 50,000 employees, UPMC is comprised of:
- 20 hospitals
- More than 400 clinical locations that encompass long-term care and senior living facilities
- a 1.4-million member health plan
- a growing international and commercial segment
A passion for innovation lies at the heart of UPMC’s success. UPMC’s unique strategy of combining clinical and research excellence with business-like discipline translates into high-quality patient care for both western Pennsylvanians and the global community.
The UPMC Pressure Ulcer Prevention Team
UPMC Presbyterian is one of five project hospitals participating in the JCR/Hill-Rom Pressure Ulcer Prevention Project. The UPMC Skin Care Committee is a multidisciplinary team comprised of several disciplines, including a physician champion, staff nurses from each nursing unit as well as the Emergency Department and Operating Rooms (ORs), Physical and Occupational Therapists, a Nutritionist, an Advanced Practice Nurse in Dermatology, Nurse Educators, and Wound, Ostomy, and Continence (WOC) Nurses.
Team members work diligently to implement best practices for pressure ulcer prevention, with special emphasis on elimination of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs).
The team is led by Jean Crouch, BSN, RN, CWON. Ms. Crouch works in conjunction with all UPMC Presbyterian WOC nurses, many of whom serve as co-chairs for team meetings. Executive Champion for the team is Holly Lorenz, MSN, RN Chief Nurse Executive, UPMC, and Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President, Patient Care Services, UPMC Presbyterian.
Cecilia (Cece) Zamarripa, MSN, RN, CWON, the JCR/Hill-Rom Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence, collaborates with the UPMC Skin Care Committee to help translate evidence-based care practices to the bedside. Current areas of focus include:
- UPMC Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcer Initiative, which includes a Skin Care Intervention Bundle (protocols and standard supplies) to be used to eliminate preventable HAPUs
- present-on-admission indicator reporting
- unit-based skin assessment documentation improvement initiative
- Hill-Rom International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Survey
Upcoming pressure ulcer prevention projects are:
- a research project focusing on the prevention of pressure ulcers in the ORs
- pressure ulcer prevention education materials for patients and families
- an intranet site to communicate and disseminate pressure ulcer prevention information to physicians and staff
- a clinical trial of a topical sacral dressing to apply prophylactically and decrease incidence of pressure ulcers
- ongoing evaluation of specialty support surfaces to assist in the prevention of pressure ulcers
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