Joyce Pittman
Adjunct Assistant ProfessoreUnavoidable Hospital-acquired Pressure Injuries in Critical /Progressive Care
Healthcare organizations strive to minimize harm and provide a safe environment for the patients they serve. Regulatory and quality organizations consider hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) to be a measure of the quality of care provided. However, despite numerous technological advancements and pressure injury prevention methods, Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) continue to occur and rates are highest in critical care units. This raises questions about situations in which HAPI may be considered unavoidable. The purpose of this study was to: 1) identify the proportion of hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) among patients in ICU/PCU that are unavoidable and 2) identify risk factors among patients that differentiate avoidable from unavoidable HAPIs.