Prevention and management of pressure ulcers in primary and secondary care: summary of NICE guidance

Or receiving NHS care in other settings, such as primary and community care settings, and emergency departments, if they have a risk factor, for example: - Significant limited mobility (for example, people with a spinal cord injury) - Inability to reposition themselves - Significant loss of sensation - Previous or current pressure ulcer - Nutritional deficiency - Significant cognitive impairment. [Based on the experience and opinion of a Delphi consensus panel] Care planning for all ages Develop and document an individualised care plan for all people who have been assessed as being at high risk of developing a pressure ulcer, taking into account: - The outcome of risk and skin assessment - The need for additional pressure relief at specific at risk sites - Patients' mobility and ability to reposition themselves - Other comorbidities - Patient preference. [Based on the experience and opinion of a Delphi consensus panel] Overcoming barriers In certain circumstances anyone of any age can develop a pressure ulcer. [...]strategies for prevention and management need to apply across all care settings. The GDG comprised a vascular surgeon, two tissue viability nurse consultants, a senior nurse, a consultant dermatologist, a senior occupational therapist, a specialist dietitian, a consultant in spinal injuries, a consultant physician (acute medicine and medicine for the elderly), a paediatric rheumatology nurse specialist, and two patient members. Cost effectiveness analysis An economic model was developed from an NHS and personal social services perspective to compare the cost effectiveness of repositioning every four hours versus every two and four hours alternately for the prevention of pressure ulcers.