Abstract
There was a marked increase in unit acquired pressure ulcers in 2014 and beginning of 2015. An action plan was formulated between 3 Tower Patient Outcomes Facilitators and Unit Shared Governance Council to develop scheduled turning teams to reduce unit acquired pressure ulcers. For hospitalized patients at risk for pressure ulcers, will a dedicated turning team decrease the number of unit acquired pressure ulcers?
A standardized method of turning patients at risk for pressure ulcers every two hours was developed. Registered Nurses and Clinical Partners identify total care patients who are at risk for developing pressure ulcers. A Green Reposition Magnet is placed on the doorframe to identify those patients that need to be repositioned every two hours. Staff members are assigned, at the beginning of the shift, their scheduled times to turn patients. Administrative Partners send out reminders to reposition patients every two hours via ascom text message. Both team members reposition the identified total care patients and off load heels every two hours. Both team members circle the position the patient was turned on the rounding log and place both initials on the scheduled turn time. Staff education on process completed via staff meetings, emails, and huddles.
The implementation of the Turn Teams in 3 Tower markedly decreased the incidence of unit acquired pressure ulcers, going from an average of 2-6 unit acquired pressure ulcers per quarter to 1 unit acquired pressure ulcer per quarter. We can conclude that this has had a positive effect in length of stay and financial implications associated with pressure ulcers.
This is a simple budget neutral practice that can result in a decrease of unit acquired pressure ulcers for hospitalized patients at risk for pressure ulcer development. The Turn Teams have now been integrated as part of the standard nursing interventions for pressure ulcer prevention on 3 Tower.
The implementation of the Turn Teams on 3 Tower did not incur any incremental costs. 3 Tower has been the leader in implementing this pressure ulcer prevention initiative in Baptist Hospital. Multiple units within the hospital have implemented the turning teams and have had positive results.
Publication Date
6-17-2016
Presented At:
11th Annual BHSF Research Conference
Content Type
Poster
Baptist Health South Florida Affiliations:
Evelyn Jonusas, BSN, RN, CMSRN
Maria Kahn, BSN, RN, CMSRN
Citation
Jonusas, Evelyn and Kahn, Maria, "Turn Teams, How Do You Prevent Unit Acquired Pressure Ulcers?" (2016). All Publications. 2694.
https://scholarlycommons.baptisthealth.net/se-all-publications/2694
Open Access
Available to all.