Pressure Ulcers
According to HealthCare.gov, a federal government website managed by theU.S. Department of Health & Human Services:
A pressure ulcer is a localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue, as a result of pressure, or of pressure in combination with a shear force or friction. The pressure is generally due to the weight of a part of a patient's body being applied to a mattress across a small surface area, such as through the skin on the heel, hip, or elbow. Pressure ulcers are often "staged" on a scale from I to IV, with IV being the most severe. Over 2.5 million people develop pressure ulcers annually in health care settings and at home. Among Medicare patients, between 8% and 28% of all documented hospital-acquired conditions are pressure ulcers.
Taken as a group, pressure ulcers are among the most frequent of hospital-acquired conditions, but the harm that they cause varies widely. Stage I pressure ulcers that are identified early and responded to appropriately result in very little cost or patient harm. Pressure ulcers that progress beyond Stage I are a much more serious problem causing significant pain and compromise of activities of daily living. Pressure ulcers in Stages III and IV put patients at significant risk for infection that can potentially result in death.
Goal: The Partnership for Patients estimates that 50% of the most dangerous pressure ulcers that occur in acute-care settings are preventable. The goal set for hospitals is to reduce these preventable hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by 50% by 2013. Over three years this would prevent nearly 110,000 pressure ulcers.
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