Magnet Minute Week of 7/5/22 Exemplary Professional Practice Preventing Skin Breakdown
TIPS:
REPOSITIONING: Helps relieve pressure from high risk areas
• Changing a patient’s position every 2 hours helps keep blood flowing. This helps skin stay healthy and prevents pressure injuries, also known as bed sores. • Turning patients provides a good opportunity to check the skin for redness and sores. • Encourage chair-bound patients to shift their weight every 15 minutes. If a patient is unable to reposition themselves, move them every hour and use a pressure redistribution cushion • “Floating the heels” means that a patient’s heel is positioned in such a way as to remove all contact between the heel and the bed
• Look at skin every day and report redness • Follow a written turning/positioning schedule
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Sarah Vanderelli, BSN, RN, CWOCN, Inpatient Wound Specialist, offers tips on preventative measures to avoid skin breakdown and pressure injuries.
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Many patients are vulnerable to skin breakdown and pressure injuries do to complications from their illness, poor nutrition/hydration and lack of mobility.
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Pressure injuries can be painful, and place patients at risk for other adverse effects.
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Preventing hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) takes a consistent multidisciplinary approach.
• Keep skin dry • Encourage patients to eat well and to drink plenty of fluids • Use pressure reduction devices on beds, chairs and under heels • Waffle cushions • Stryker and TruVue boots • Mepilex Borders for Sacrum & Heels • Skin Prep
• Use lift sheet or devices to reduce sheer and friction
CLICK HERE FOR A SHORT VIDEO, ENTITLED “SARAH’S TIP OF THE DAY TO PREVENT SKIN BREAKDOWN” OR SCAN THE QR CODE TO ACCESS THE NEW “STAY CONNECTED” NURSING COMMUNICATIONS STACK, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS SARAH’S VIDEO AND MUCH MORE