Assignment: Pressure Wounds

Assignment: Pressure Wounds
Assignment: Pressure Wounds
skin break down and deep tissue injury
The Nursing Profession Responds to the Great Depression and World War II With the stock market crash of 1929 came the Great Depression, resulting in widespread unemployment of private-duty nurses and the closing of nursing schools with a simultaneous increase in the need for charity health services for the population. Nursing students who had previously been the primary source to staff hospitals declined in number. Unemployed graduate nurses were hired to replace them for minimal wages, a trend that was to influence the profession for years to come (MacEachern, 1932).
Other nurses found themselves accompanying troops to Europe when the United States entered World War II. Military nurses provided care aboard hospital ships and
were a critical presence at the invasion of Normandy in 1944 as well as in military operations in North Africa, Italy, France, and the Philippines. More than 100,000 nurses volunteered and were certified for military service in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps. The resulting severe shortage of nurses on the home front resulted in the development of the Cadet Nurse Corps. Frances Payne Bolton, congressional representative from Ohio, is credited with the founding of the Cadet Nurse Corps through the Bolton Act of 1945. By the end of the war, more than 180,000 nursing students had been trained through this act, and advanced practice graduate nurses in psychiatry and public health nursing had received graduate education to increase the numbers of nurse educators (Donahue, 1985; Kalisch & Kalisch, 1986).
Pressure ulcers (sometimes called pressure sores or bedsores) are skin and underlying tissue lesions produced by sustained pressure on the skin.
They can affect anyone, although they are more common in persons who are confined to bed or who spend a lot of time in a chair or wheelchair.
What are the signs and symptoms of a pressure ulcer?
Any portion of the body that is put under pressure can develop a pressure ulcer.
They’re most common on the heels, elbows, hips, and base of the spine, among other bony areas of the body.
They usually form over decades, although they can also form in a matter of hours.
Early signs and symptoms
The following are early signs of a pressure ulcer:
People with pale skin are more likely to develop red areas, whereas those with dark skin are more likely to develop purple or blue patches.
discolored patches that do not turn white when squeezed a patch of skin that feels warm, spongy, or firm in the affected area pain or irritation
At this stage, a doctor or nurse may refer to a pressure ulcer as a category 1 pressure ulcer.
Symptoms that appear later
Although the skin may not be broken at first, if the pressure ulcer worsens, the following can happen:
a severe wound that reaches the deepest layers of the skin – a category 2 pressure ulcer an open wound or blister –
A category 3 pressure ulcer is a deep wound that can reach the muscle and bone — a category 4 pressure ulcer is a deep wound that can reach the muscle and bone.
When should you seek medical advice?
If you develop symptoms of a pressure ulcer while in a hospital or a care facility, notify your healthcare staff as soon as possible.
If nothing is done, the situation will most likely worsen.
To limit the risk of pressure ulcers, you should be monitored on a regular basis and given advice and treatment, but even with the best care, they can develop.
If you or the person you’re caring for is recovering at home from an illness or surgery, or if you’re caring for someone who is confined to bed or a wheelchair, contact your GP clinic.
If you notice any of the following, seek medical help right away:
Skin that is red and swollen
a high temperature pus arising from a pressure ulcer or wound chilly skin with a quick heartbeat severe or worsening discomfort
These signs and symptoms could indicate a dangerous infection that needs to be treated right once.
For pressure ulcers, there are a variety of treatments available.
The severity of the pressure ulcer determines the treatment options.
For some, they’re an annoyance that necessitates minimal nursing care.
Others may be more serious, resulting in life-threatening consequences such as blood poisoning.
There are a number of things you can do to keep pressure ulcers from getting worse and to help them heal, including:
using specially designed static foam mattresses or cushions, or dynamic mattresses and cushions with a pump to provide a constant flow of air eating a healthy, balanced diet moving and regularly changing your position using specially designed static foam mattresses or cushions, or dynamic mattresses and cushions with a pump to provide a constant flow of air eating a healthy, balanced diet
a process for cleaning and removing damaged tissue from a wound (debridement)
In the most critical situations, surgery to remove damaged tissue and close the wound is used.
Learn more about how to treat pressure ulcers.