Impact of a suggested nursing protocol on the occurrence of medical device-related pressure ulcers in critically ill patients

• Main Authors: Ahmed Yehia Zakaria, Khaled Mohamed Taema, Manal Saied Ismael, Sameh Elhabashy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Ostrava 2018-12-01
• Series: Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery
• Subjects: critically ill; medical devices; nursing protocol; pressure ulcer
• Online Access: https://periodika.osu.cz/ojs/index.php/cejnm/article/view/180/81
• ISSN: 2336-3517; 2336-3517

Aim: Medical Device-Related Pressure Ulcers are skin breakdowns related to certain medical devices that increase morbidity, lengthen hospital stays, and increase the cost of treatment. Approximately one third of reported pressure ulcers are associated with medical devices. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of a suggested nursing intervention protocol on the occurrence of medical device-related pressure ulcers in critically ill patients. Design: A prospective, quasi-experimental research design was used in this study. Methods: 100 patients participated in our study, divided into study and control groups. The researchers selected Endo-tracheal and Nasogastric tubes to examine their association with the development of pressure ulcers. The researchers observed the prevalence of pressure ulcers caused by the selected devices through daily clinical observation. Patients receiving routine care were used as a control group, while the suggested nursing intervention protocol was implemented to the study group of patients. The results of the given protocol on the study subjects were compared to the collected base line data for the control group. Results: The study revealed a highly statistically and clinically significant difference between the study and control groups in relation to incidence of endo-tracheal and nasogastric tube pressure ulcers. The results indicate that the incidence of endo-tracheal tube pressure ulcers decreased from 90% to 32.1% after implementation of the suggested nursing intervention protocol (p = 0.031), whereas the incidence of nasogastric tubes pressure ulcers fell from 77.8% to 13.1% (p = 0.012). Conclusion: the examined evidence based suggested nursing intervention protocol proved highly effective in reducing the occurrence of selected Medical Device-Related Pressure Ulcers in critically ill patients.