REDUCING NEW AND WORSENING PRESSURE INJURIES UTILIZING AN INTERFACE SENSOR MONITORING SYSTEM

Research Objectives: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate whether an interface Patient Monitoring Sensor, would prevent new or worsening pressure injuries in a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH).

Design: A multidisciplinary team met to review the nosocomial pressure injury data and the interventions that were implemented over the past two years.

Setting: LTACH, 18-bed specialty hospital with medically complex patient population.

Participants: Inclusion criteria: Braden score of 18 or below, History or presence of pressure injury, Acceptance in offloading sensor use.
Exclusion criteria: Need for prone positioning, Patient allergy to adhesives, non-adherence with offloading program.

Interventions: Education on sensor application, criteria for the identified targeted population, and effective turning and off-loading.

Main Outcome Measures: The 12-week trial yielded optimal results, and a decision was made to move forward with the Sensor Monitoring System as standardized practice on the unit.

Results: There was one newly acquired buttock deep tissue pressure injury (DTI) that resolved within five days of development in the trial patient group. There were no other new or worsening truncal pressure injuries.
Conversely, two patients who did not use the sensor monitoring system developed DTIs. For 259 days, there was zero new and one worsening truncal pressure injuries for patients that used the sensor.

Conclusions: A decision was made to move forward with the Sensor Monitoring System as standardized practice on the unit and extend to our in-patient acute rehabilitation unit.

Author(s) Disclosures: Shawn Marie Parsons CRNP