Effect of the guideline implementation “risk assessment and prevention of pressure ulcers” of the Registered Nurses‘Association of Ontario (RNAO)

Abstract

Background: The Best Practice Spotlight Organizations® Program is being developed in Spain to reduce the variability of clinical practice by implementing clinical practice guidelines from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. This study described the results of the implementation of the guide “Risk assessment and prevention of pressure ulcers”.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective observational study (2015-2018) at the Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves on 4,464 patients from 22 hospitalization units, analyzing type of unit, risk assessment, preventive measures, origin and category of ulcers. Descriptive analysis and contingency tables were performed with the Chi-square statistic p<0.05.

Results: The patients at risk were 62.2% in medical units, 53.4% in surgical units and 90% in intensive care. The application of preventive measures was 67.9%, 60.2% and 92.1% (respectively) for each unit. In medical units, 13.1% of pressure ulcers were identified, of which 68.1% were present at the time of admission. While in surgical units and intensive care they developed during hospitalization (60.8% and 88.9% respectively) (p<0.001). The presence of ulcers seemed to show a decreasing trend in the years analyzed (19.6% to 11.2%).

Conclusions: There are favorable environments for implantation (medical units and intensive care) that reflect a higher level of risk assessment, use of pressure management surfaces and a decrease in prevalence. The recommendations have not been implemented homogeneously, with differences depending on the type of unit.