Pressure Ulcers
Decubitus ulcers remain a health challenge across all healthcare settings. Of the essence, though, is the high incidence of bedsores in patients who are critically ill. A comatose status is an example befitting of a condition that predisposes individuals to pressure ulcers. Such a phenomenon is worrying given that their occurrence is preventable if good strategies are in place. Therefore, this calls for an analysis of factors that hinders the elimination of this adverse event at once. In essence, a scrutiny of that kind is the central idea of this discussion. Additionally, the purpose is to apply nursing theories and models such as Orem’s self-care model in practice to offset this imbalance.
To begin with, of interest to this subject is the magnitude of the problem. Over the years, there has been a rise in the prevalence rates of patients presenting with pressure ulcers. A case in point is the worrying statistic, which estimates that up to 3 million USA persons suffer this fate yearly(Keelaghan, Margolis, Zhan, & Baumgarten, 2008). Such a high number apparently necessitates initialization of measures that can eliminate pressure sores.
Moreover, there is sufficient evidence that this unwanted health outcome has a financial implication. For instance, approximately $16,755 is the cost of treating a patient with bedsores as compared to $10000 spent on pressure ulcer-free individual. Attributable to this high cost are factors like increased length of hospital stay and bedsore-related complications such as infection(“Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment and Prevention: A Comparative Effectiveness Review”, 2016). Clearly, all these instances are proof enough of the indispensability of this healthcare issue that hinders patient’s wellbeing.
Lastly, without elimination of this problem, one can be sure to find high turnover of patients in hospitals due to bedsores. Besides, a high cost of seeking healthcare is also inevitable given the complications that come with this health challenge (Cooper, 2013). Evidently, this illustrates the need for eradicating this menace from all healthcare setting
In conclusion, it is clear that an analysis of this matter is of the essence. Failure to do so can only imply a future with harsh effects of pressure sores such as high cost of health and long hospitalization.
REFERENCES
Cooper, K. L. (2013). Evidence-Based Prevention of Pressure Ulcers in the Intensive Care Unit. Critical Care Nurse, 33(6), 57-67. doi:10.4037/ccn2013985
Keelaghan, E., Margolis, D., Zhan, M., & Baumgarten, M. (2008). Prevalence of pressure ulcers on hospital admission among nursing home residents transferred to the hospital. Wound Repair And Regeneration, 16(3), 331-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1524-475x.2008.00373.x
Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment and Prevention: A Comparative Effectiveness Review. (2016). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/…/search-fo…
