NICE update helps us refocus on pressure ulcer prevention

The painful and distressing condition of pressure ulcers was the subject of a clinical guideline updated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2014.

To highlight the updated advice, the May 2014 issue of Nursing Management features an article that I have written with colleagues from the National Clinical Guideline Centre, London, the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and Powys Teaching Health Board.

We want to encourage nurses to be inspired by the recommendations to change their practice so that pressure ulcers can be prevented.

It is such an important topic as pain and suffering caused by pressure ulcers can be avoided and there are effective management techniques that can alleviate these.

Having an article published in Nursing Management has been a great opportunity for the guideline to reach nursing staff who are dealing with patients daily.

All the recommendations in the guideline will improve patient care but, if one thought is to remain in people’s minds, we’d like it to be that all patients are at risk of developing pressure ulcers.

It is the responsibility of all nursing staff to provide appropriate care to patients so that they can avoid developing pressure ulcers or so that they can manage them appropriately.

However, nurse managers have the additional role and responsibility of ensuring that nurses are adequately trained to do this and provide sufficient resources for effective care to be carried out.

We think this is a must-read for all nursing staff. We hope you agree.

About the author

Julie Neilson is a senior research fellow at the National Clinical Guideline Centre