QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN PREVENTION OF PRESSURE ULCERS IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS
Abstract
Six journal articles detailing research with varying qualitative and quantitative data on pressure ulcer prevention was studied. Elliot (2010) claims that pressure ulcers and its interventions have significant impact on health-related quality of life and can be a heavy burden to the patient, the family and the health professionals involved. This is why health professionals must do more research on evidence-based interventions to be able to provide optimum care to their patients. Goreckiet al (2009) discovered that subject-specific search strategies could help health practitioners find good qualitative patient-reported data in pressure ulcer prevention. Nurses especially, must remember that it is their task to detect early those who are at risk of pressure ulcers and should not leave the job to other staff (Sving, 2011). It should also be noted that the quality of care could be improved multiple times when health care providers partner with their patients. This is not difficult because Latimar and her colleagues (2014) learned that patients actually prefer to have a proactive role in preventing pressure ulcers. Other strategies that can prevent and treat pressure ulcers are recruiting of more staff (such as tissue viability experts), doing campaigns to increase pressure injury prevention awareness, patient positioning, and use of equipment such as cushions that can evenly distribute weight.
Elliot, J. (2010). Strategies to improve the prevention of pressure ulcers.Nursing Older
People, 22(9), 31-36.
The article listed strategies done by an acute trust to provide the best evidence-based practice in preventing pressure ulcers. One strategy was to recruit tissue viability health professionals who can aid in both early risk detection and pressure ulcer intervention. Another strategy was to have a campaign raising awareness of interventions such as risk detection, patient positioning, and “healthy heels” mission (using heel protector boots of offload heel pressure).
Gorecki, C. et al. (2009). Impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life in older patients: a
systematic review. The American Geriatrics Society, 57(7), 1175–1183. DOI:
10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02307.x
Metasynthesis and systemic review of 31 studies discovered that both pressure ulcers and its interventions have weighty impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL) of the adult population. The 11 themes that emerged from HRQL were pressure ulcer symptoms, social impact, financial impact, physical impact, impact on other people, perceived cause, demand for more information, overall health, comparing the needs and effects of interventions, and the relationship between the health professional with his patient.
Gorecki, C. et al. (2009). Evaluation of five search strategies in retrieving qualitative
patient-reported electronic data on the impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life.
The study compared the usefulness of subject-specific search versus research methodology search strategies in finding qualitative data reported by patients with pressure ulcer and how it affected their quality of life in terms of health. It was observed that subject-specific search is more useful in getting qualitative patient-reported information on quality of life in terms of health. One reason is that the strategy of subject-specific search recognized every study about qualitative patient-reported data on quality of life in terms of health, while the strategy of research methodology based failed to recognize qualitative information with studies having mixed methods.
Latimar, S., Chaboyer, W., & Gillespie, B. (2014). Patient participation in pressure injury
prevention: giving patient’s a voice. Scand J Caring Sci, 28, 648–656.doi:
10.1111/scs.1208
Twenty adult inpatients were interviewed to gain understanding on patients’ thoughts with their role in preventing pressure injuries. It was discovered that patients’ knowledge stem from personal and second-hand experiences and most patients favor a proactive role in preventing pressure injuries. Thus, health-care practitioners should consider patients as partners in preventing pressure injuries.
Sving, E. et al. (2012). Registered nurses’ attention to and perceptions of pressure ulcer
prevention in hospital settings. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 1293–1303, doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.04000.x
Nine registered nurses were observed on how they document and implement pressure ulcer prevention. It was discovered that though all nurses consider preventing pressure ulcers as part of the basic care, their attention to details were still found to be lacking. Risk assessment protocols and prevention strategies were insufficient. This was attributed to nurses’ trust in the knowledge of assistant nurses and the belief that it is the latter’s task to prevent pressure ulcers.
Waugh, S. (2014). Attitudes of nurses toward pressure ulcer prevention: a literature
review. MedSurg Nursing, 23(5). 350-357.
Seven studies were assessed to measure nurses’ attitude with regards to preventing pressure ulcers. Results show that though nurses have sufficient knowledge and optimistic attitudes, there is still a lack of action in preventing pressure ulcers. The authors perceive that barriers such as inadequate time, lack of staff, insufficient continuity of care, and shortage of cushions that evenly distribute pressure caused nurses’ lack of provision in preventing pressure ulcers.
References
Elliot, J. (2010). Strategies to improve the prevention of pressure ulcers.Nursing Older People,
22(9), 31-36.
Gorecki, C. et al. (2009). Impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life in older patients: a
systematic review. The American Geriatrics Society, 57(7), 1175–1183. DOI:
10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02307.x
Gorecki, C. et al. (2009). Evaluation of five search strategies in retrieving qualitative patient-
reported electronic data on the impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life. Journal of
Advanced Nursing. 645-652.
Latimar, S., Chaboyer, W., & Gillespie, B. (2014). Patient participation in pressure injury
prevention: giving patient’s a voice. Scand J Caring Sci, 28, 648–656.doi:
10.1111/scs.1208
Sving, E. et al. (2012). Registered nurses’ attention to and perceptions of pressure ulcer
prevention in hospital settings. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 1293–1303, doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.04000.x
Waugh, S. (2014). Attitudes of nurses toward pressure ulcer prevention: A literature review.
MedSurg Nursing, 23(5). 350-357.
