Pressure Ulcers Prevalence - Report Example

Pressure ulcers (PU) are injuries that breakdown the underlying tissues and the skin of a body. Firstly, most of the patients who have suffered pressure ulcers have been faced with many problems like increase in weight (Baumgarten, Rich, SShardell, Hawkes, Margolis, Langenberg, Magaziner 2012). Patients who get care for long-term acute care prevalence have been at the high risk of suffering from pressure injury and growth in weight ranging from 181 to 187 lb than who get another care setting. Rehab setting recorded the highest weight of 10 lb over the period of 10 years. Most of the people have been faced with severe pain making him or her unable to move some or all parts of the body. Elderly patients have been affected most as they experience a lot of discomforts, prolonged time of staying in the hospital and medication complications (VanGilder, Lachenbruch, Algrim-Boyle, & Meyer 2017)). Compression of soft tissues causes tissue ischemia in the skin and muscles in the area where it is compressed such as skin and the bones as well as progressive damage to nerves (Balzer, Kremer, Junghans, Halfens, Dassen, & Kottner 2014). Additionally, this causes complication such sepsis and bacteremia in the affected patient.

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Secondly, PUs are due to the reduction of perfusion tissues due to pressure exacted on the skin and moisture which causes breakdown of the outer layer of skin causing epidermis. Removal of epidermal layers making the skin be at risk for injuries caused by maceration and shear stress of the skin (Zuo, & Meng, 2015). Also, immobility where people lack to reposition themselves and decrease dermal thickness, less subcutaneous fat and fall in sensory perception which affects most the aged people. Poor nutrition has been a motivating factor of PU as lack of proteins in the body cause the tissues to experience pressure (Lachenbruch, Ribble, Emmons, & VanGilder 2016). From the year 2006, the prevalence rate has been decreasing from 13.5% to 9.3% in the year 2015. Moreover, when PU is not treated, it causes cellulitis which spread to the blood and the underlying joint and bones causing a lot of pain.

References

Balzer, K., Kremer, L., Junghans, A., Halfens, R. J. G., Dassen, T., & Kottner, J. (2014). What patient characteristics guide nurses clinical judgement on pressure ulcer risk? A mixed methods study. International journal of nursing studies, 51(5), 703-716.

Baumgarten, M., Rich, S. E., Shardell, M. D., Hawkes, W. G., Margolis, D. J., Langenberg, P., Magaziner, J. (2012). Care-Related Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers Among Elderly Hip Fracture Patients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 60(2), 277283. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03849.x

Lachenbruch, C., Ribble, D., Emmons, K., & VanGilder, C. (2016). Pressure ulcer risk in the incontinent patient: analysis of incontinence and hospital-acquired pressure ulcers from the International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Survey. Journal of Wound Ostomy & Continence Nursing, 43(3), 235-241.

VanGilder, C., Lachenbruch, C., Algrim-Boyle, C., & Meyer, S. (2017). The International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Survey: 2006-2015: A 10-Year Pressure Injury Prevalence and Demographic Trend Analysis by Care Setting. Journal of Wound Ostomy & Continence Nursing, 44(1), 20-28.

Zuo, X. L., & Meng, F. J. (2015). A care bundle for pressure ulcer treatment in intensive care units. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 2(4), 340-347.