Mary Job
Grand Canyon University
NRS 451 V
Dinwiddie Sandra
April, 22, 2012
Pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) in surgical patients has become a major interest in acute care hospitals with the increased focus on patient safety and quality of care. A pressure ulcer is any area of skin or underlying tissue that has been damaged by unrelieved pressure or pressure in combination with friction and shear. Pressure ulcers are caused due to diminished blood supply which in turn leads to decreased oxygen and nutrient delivery to the affected tissues (Tschannen, Bates, Talsma, &Guo, 2012). Pressure ulcers can cause extreme discomfort and often lead to serious, life threatening infections, which substantially increase the …show more content…
0.29 (95% CI 0.19–0.43), or a relative reduction in pressure ulcer incidence of 71% (95% CI 57–81%). Calculations were based on the total costs and total number of pressure ulcers that would develop using high- specification foam mattress and standard hospital mattress. The cost of providing a standard hospital mattress for a100 patient episodes was only £11, whereas the cost of providing a high specification foam mattress was higher at £57. However the incidence of pressure ulcers and the treatment cost are lower with high-specification foam mattress. In a group 100 patients where 20 developed a pressure ulcer only six would do so with a high-specification hospital mattress. For example in a group of 100 patients, where 20 developed pressure ulcers the cost of treating them was £ 750 x 20 = £ 15,000, in patients cared for on a standard hospital mattress, whereas for patients cared on