Battle Against Bedsores Requires Teamwork
Posted by
Walton Barber, LLPFebruary 19, 2008 11:42 PMNew research shows that preventing and treating pressure ulcers in the nursing home setting requires a team approach, involving nurses, laundry workers, cafeteria and maintenance workers, and even the cosmeticians.
Large bedsores are a sight to behold. The larger ones - Stage III and IV - can result in a wound so deep that you can see the bone. Wounds like this can be very painful and can lead to serious and lethal infections, such as the one that killed Christopher Reeves.
It is estimated that a least two million Americans suffer from bedsores every year, most caused by poor nutrition, dehydration, immobility, and/or incontinence. A new study, however, suggests that using a team approach to the battle against pressure ulcers can greatly reduce the numbers.
In a study of a collaborative program involving 52 nursing homes around the country, The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported last August that team efforts had reduced the number of severe pressure ulcers acquired in-house by 69 percent."Preventing pressure ulcers is a 24/7/365 kind of job," said Jeff West, a clinical reviewer at Qualis Health in Seattle, who helped to set up the collaborative in 2003. "It's not as if one person can get it all done. And if it fails just a little bit, just during the weekends, for instance, you're not going to get the results. It takes tremendous consistency."
Nursing homes are enlisting every department that can help play a role. The laundry workers look for ill-fitting clothes, the kitchen staff boost nutrition of those at risk, even the hair salon can help by repositioning the resident if sitting for too long.
According to West, the changes need to become hard-wired into the organization. "A lot of places do well when they have a lot of support," he said. "But it's hard to keep that momentum going. That's the real challenge."