Risk Factors for Pressure Injury Development Among Critical Care Patients

Identification of the appropriate pressure injury (PI) risk factors is the first step in successful PI prevention. Measuring PI risk through formalized PI risk assessment is an essential component of any PI prevention program. Major PI risk factors identified in the empirical literature in the critical care population include age, diabetes, hypotension, mobility, prolonged intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation and vasopressor administration. Future risk assessment using sophisticated data analytics available in the electronic medical record may result in earlier, targeted PI prevention and will improve our understanding of risk factors that may contribute to unavoidable PIs.

Source: Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America - October 29, 2020 Category: Nursing Authors: Jill Cox Source Type: research