An exploration of nursing documentation of pressure ulcer care in an acute setting in Ireland.
Affiliation
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. juliejordanobrien@beaumont.ieIssue Date
2012-02-01T09:58:40ZMeSH
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Attitude of Health Personnel
Hospitals, Teaching/methods
Humans
Ireland
Middle Aged
Nursing Evaluation Research
Nursing Records/*standards
Pressure Ulcer/*nursing
Process Assessment (Health Care)
Young Adult
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
J Wound Care. 2011 May;20(5):197-8, 200, 202-3 passim.Journal
Journal of wound carePubMed ID
21647065Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the nature and quality of documented care planning for pressure ulcers in a large teaching hospital in the Republic of Ireland. METHOD: A mixed method design was used; this encompassed a descriptive survey that retrospectively evaluated nursing records (n=85) in two wards (orthopaedic and care of the older adult) and a focus group (n=13) that explored nurses' perspectives of the factors influencing concordance and the quality of nursing documentation. Only records of at-risk patients (Waterlow score of >10) were included. RESULTS: It was identified that 47% (n=40) were assessed as at high or very high risk of developing a pressure ulcer. Fifty-two patients (61%) had a weekly risk assessment, but 25% (n=21) had only one follow-up assessment. Only 45% (n=38) of charts had some evidence of documented care planning, and of those 53% (n=20) had no evidence of implementation of the care plan and 66% (n=25) had no evidence of outcome evaluation. Only 48% (n=41) of this at-risk population was nutritionally assessed. Of patients admitted with and without a pressure ulcer, there was no record of regular positioning in 70% (n=59) and 60% (n=51) respectively. CONCLUSION: Documentation on pressure ulcer care is not standardised and requires development. Conflict of interest: None.Language
engISSN
0969-0700 (Print)0969-0700 (Linking)