What’s it going to take to stop pressure injuries?
If we want to realize genuine improvement in the quality of the pressure injury prevention and treatment we deliver, we cannot start with Electronic Health Record or technology driven approaches that take the caregiver's time and focus away from the bedside and try to work our way backwards. We have to start with the patient experience then design our processes forward.
The scientific, technological and economic advancements in medicine have dramatically changed the way we deliver healthcare. We have many great accomplishments. But unfortunately, this evolution has lead to decreased time and investment in basic nursing care work, where pressure injury prevention can best be achieved.
Our goal to prevent Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPI), Long Term Skilled Nursing Facility Acquired Pressure Injuries (FAPI) and Community Acquired Pressure Injuries has to be to re-establish preventative best practices within the more complex care delivery model. We must innovate work flows improve efficiency and increase the time caregivers have available with their patients. Procedures, supplies and equipment must honestly serve our patients first, and secondly empower our caregivers to be to have the resources and the skills we need to provide the best possible bedside preventative care. When we can collaborate to achieve better continuity of care, balance, sustainability and productivity between the many faucets of healthcare delivery, we can improve outcomes. Ultimately our practice must be guided by benevolence as the driving core value toward achieving true healthcare reform. ” - Gwen Jewell, Clinical Nurse II, BSN, CWS
