Nursing Interventions to Prevent Pressure Ulcers in ۲۰۲۳

Problem Statement: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common concern in most healthcare settings. PUs lead to harm to the patient, including pain, complications, suffering, impact on quality of life, increased length of stay in the hospital, significant financial burden, and premature death in some patients. When diagnosis is delayed, patients' health conditions deteriorate. To reduce the incidence of PU, efforts must first be focused on prevention. The first step in preventing PU is to identify patients who are at risk. The second step is to confidently implement prevention strategies for all at-risk patients. Most of the studies show the lack of awareness of the nursing team in some specific areas, including PU preventive measures. Providing regular and sustainable health education for nurses is considered as one of the determining components of prevention methods. The risk identification process uses a structured risk assessment, including a skin assessment, and is a well-established approach. It is clear that PU starts silently and is like an iceberg. It is very dangerous under the surface, but discreet on the surface. Therefore, a specific and accurate nursing diagnosis for this clinical condition, with a clear definition and well-defined risk factors for this health issue, helps the nurse in the clinical judgment process and also supports her in choosing preventive interventions. The cornerstones of evidence-based pressure ulcer prevention guidelines include risk assessment, supportive levels, regular repositioning, good skin care, and adequate nutrition. More research is needed to understand the relationship between preventive nursing care and PUs and to guide effective prevention and treatment approaches. In this review article, we examine preventive nursing care for pressure ulcers in ۲۰۲۳.Materials and methods: This systematic review was conducted with the aim of summarizing the practice of nurses and factors related to PU. Towards the prevention of PU, an extensive search was systematically conducted in electronic databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Scientific, etc. from ۲۰۱۵ to ۲۰۲۳. The articles included in the study include English language articles.Conclusion: Training of nurses is considered as an integral part of pressure ulcer prevention. Nurses' knowledge is increased by continuous education in the field of PU prevention. The results of this study can help to improve the performance of nurses in the prevention of PU.