Abstract
The purpose of this evidence-based quality-improvement project is to implement best practices in pressure injury prevention education for the nursing staff at an intensive care unit. In the United States (US), 41% of pressure injuries occur in intensive care settings (Bauer, Rock, Nazzal, Jones, & Qu, 2016). Treatment costs for pressure injuries range up to 150,000 dollars per patient, with the US spending roughly 10 billion dollars to treat pressure injuries annually. The literature shows that implementing best practices in pressure injury prevention is most effectively served when it is easy to access and frequently examine (Dradbury, McDonough, Moore, & Porter-Armstrong, 2018); (Esche, Warren, Woods, Jesade, & Iliuta, 2015). Accessible education empowers nurses in the intensive care setting to implement evidence-based practices, leading to improved outcomes for patients. Fifteen nurses who work in a tertiary care center’s intensive care unit between October 2019-October 2020 in a major metropolitan city in the Midwest. Baseline surveys were completed by 15 Registered Nurses (RN) assessed the knowledge surrounding current best practices and policies on pressure injury prevention. The intervention consisted of a one-on-one teaching session where the RN was provided with an educational reference booklet. Post-implementation surveys were completed at one- and two-months post-intervention to assess for retention of knowledge. There was roughly a 20% increase in survey scores one-month implementation and sustainment of improvement in scores on the second post-implementation surveys for each nurse involved. Further education and implementation for all nurses should be done to improve the sustainability of knowledge in pressure injury prevention which in turn could improve the prevalence of pressure injuries across the intensive care units.