Prophylaxis of pressure injuries: a look at the accountability of the nursing team

Abstract

Introduction: Patient safety is an important issue that should always be a concern of health professionals and one of the goals of care delivery. The prevention of pressure ulcers is considered an essential item in this context. Therefore, PU prophylaxis is an ethical and legal commitment of the nursing team. Method: This is an exploratory, descriptive and qualiquantitative study. The study was carried out in two hospital institutions, one public and one private, together with 34 nursing professionals from the night and day periods of the medical, surgical and ICU clinics. Two-part forms were used: the first one to characterize the participants; the second part with open and multiple choice questions. The answers to the open questions were thematically organized, the socio-demographic data and the answers to the multiple-choice questions were organized according to frequency. Results: About 46.66% of technicians and 50% of nursing assistants lack knowledge of pressure injuries, reaffirming the limited knowledge about the National Patient Safety Program. All nurses, 73.33% of technicians, and 37.5% of nursing assistants recognized that not all prophylactic measures are useful in situations of risk for injuries, evidencing the low commitment of the team in the full application of these measures. Final considerations: The Permanent Education in Health is the most effective way to be developed by the nursing team, stimulating a critical, reflexive, purposeful, committed, and technically efficient action, aiding in the effectiveness of patient safety measures.