Immobility, Pressure Ulcers Flashcards
What are the risk factors for pressure ulcers?
Impaired sensory perception, impaired mobility, nutrition, alterations in LOC, shear force/friction, moisture, fecal or urinary incontinence.
Nursing knowledge base for pressure ulcers?
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Guidelines (AHCPR)
Braden Scale
Bates-Jensen Wound Assessment
What is the Braden Scale comprised of?
Sensory perception, moisture, activity, mobility nutrition, friction and shear
What is the Bates-Jensen comprised of?
Size, depth, edges, undermining, necrotic tissue type, necrotic tissue amount, granulation, epithelialization tissue, exudate type, exudate amount, skin color, edema, induration
What is the pathogenesis of pressure ulcers?
Pressure intensity-tissue ischemia and blanching
Pressure duration
Tissue tolerance
What patients are at risk for pressure ulcers?
Trauma victims, older adults, spinal cord injury, patients with fractured hip, diabetes, long term care, critical care
What should be assessed for when it comes to pressure ulcers?
Skin: bony prominences, tube sites, orthopedic devices
Pressure ulcers: Predictive measures, mobility, body fluids, pain
How to position patients and prevent ulcers?
Turn every 1 to 2 hours as indicated. Use draw sheets. Over bed trapeze. Support surfaces, special mattresses, overlay or seat cushion. Elevate heels off bed. Manage moisture. Clean skin. Elevate HOB to 30 degrees or less.
Stage 1 of decubitus ulcers?
Non-blanchable redness of intact skin in localized areas, usually over a bony prominence. Darkly pigmented skin may not ave visible blanching, its color may differ from the surrounding areas.
Stage 2 of decubitus ulcers?
Partial-thickness skin loss or blister presenting as a shallow, open ulcer with a red-pink wound bed without slough. May also present as an intact or open/ruptured, serum-filled blister.
Stage 3 of decubitus ulcers?
Full-thickness skin loss, fat is visible. Bone, tendon, muscles are not exposed. Slough may be present but does not obscure the depth of tissue loss. May include undermining and tunneling.
Stage 4 of decubitus ulcers?
Muscle/bone/tendon visible. Full-thickness tissue loss. Slough or eschar may be present on some parts of the wound bed. Often includes undermining and tunneling.
What to assess for when it comes to pressure ulcers?
Location, extent of tissue involvement, presence of undermining or tunneling, wound size in cm.
Length (head to toe)
Width (side to side)
Depth (deepest part of the visible wound bed)
Unstageable/unclassified pressure ulcers?
Full thickness tissue loss in which the base of the ulcer is covered by slough (yellow, tan, gray, green, or brown) and/or eschar (tan, brown, or black) in the wound bed.
Until enough slough or eschar is removed to expose the base of the wound, the true depth and therefore stage cannot be determined.
What should be done with stable (dry, adherent, intact without erythema or fluctuance) eschar such as on the heels?
It should not be removed because it’s the body’s natural cover
One-way staging as recommended by the WOCN Society?
Down-staging/reverse staging of ulcers is not appropriate.
Use the deepest stage and prefix this with the term “healing” or “healed”
If it reopens in the same anatomical site, it retains its original stage.