Introduction:

Within the comprehensive care of critical patients, skin care is paramount, as well as ensuring proper nutrition, hydration, mobilization and control of the glycemic levels of the same. All this is a responsibility of the nursing professional as a recognized key piece of safety and quality of care. The training of professionals, awareness and continuous monitoring are essential in solving problems and in the evolution to improve achievements.

Objectives:

Provide the keys for improving the prevalence and incidence rates of pressure injuries in an intensive care unit and implement the prevention of pressure injuries as an essential item in nursing care.

Methodology:

A monthly control of the prevalence rates of pressure injuries and a monthly study of the incidence of new cases for 9 months, periodic incidence studies every 4/5 months and monthly prevalence cuts were carried out. Periodic training with informative talks for all intensive care unit staff and periodic meetings to indicate the data collected and the improvement in the control of the prevalence and incidence rates of pressure injuries.

Results:

The introduction of agreed care improvement measures produced a great decrease in the prevalence and incidence rates of pressure injuries that stabilized over time at levels consistent with levels of recognized and expected care quality.

Conclusions:

The incidence and prevalence of pressure injuries in our intensive care unit decreased significantly thanks to the improvement initiative that arises from the professional group itself.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )