Skin integrity, immobility, and pressure ulcers in class III obese patients
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
- Author(s):
- Gardner, Lea Anne, author Pagano, Maryann, author
- Contributor(s):
- Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority, issuing body. ECRI (Organization), issuing body. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, [2013]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Immobilization -- adverse effects Obesity -- complications Pressure Ulcer -- etiology Pressure Ulcer -- prevention & control Skin -- pathology Skin Care -- methods Bariatric Medicine -- instrumentation Communication Hygiene Inservice Training Obesity, Morbid -- complications Patient Positioning Risk Assessment Risk Factors Humans Pennsylvania United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Immobility, excess adipose tissue, and changes in skin physiology place class III obese patients at risk for pressure ulcers, skin infections, and cuts, tears, abrasions, and lacerations. A review of five years of class III obese patient skin-related reports submitted to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority identified that 20.7% of all skin-related event reports for class III obese patients with immobility issues were harmful skin-related events. This percentage is high compared with the percentage of harmful skin-related events (2.3%) out of all skin-related event reports submitted to the Authority in 2011. Pressure-related reports accounted for 85.0% of the skin integrity reports for class III obese patients with immobility issues, of which 57.7% were hospital-acquired conditions, 37.4% were present on admission, and 4.8% had no indication of the time the event occurred. The development and implementation of class III obese patient evidence-based skin care protocols and care plans, use of bariatric equipment, and effective communication are ways to mitigate the impact of immobility and skin challenges in class III obese patients.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (pages 50-54)).
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101609906 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101609906