Effect of quality control circle activity in management of pressure ulcer in critically ill patients

Objective To explore the effect of quality control circle activity on pressure ulcer management in critically ill patients. Methods Quality management tools were applied to analysis the causes of hospital pressure ulcer event in critically ill patients of emergency room and medical intensive care unit (MICU) along with improving those tools. And then, effects were compared before and after improvement. Results The incidence of pressure ulcer was 3.6% before improvement and 1.0% after improvement in emergency room; the incidence of pressure ulcer was 7.8% before improvement and 3.6% after improvement in MICU; there were statistical significance in all of them (χ2=7.138, 8.253; P<0.01). Conclusions Quality control circle activity effectively decreased the incidence of pressure ulcer in critically ill patients by adding the tool for skin decompression, standardizing the process of pressure sore assessment, strengthening the cooperation between doctor and nurse, organizing nurses training and playing coordination and guidance functions of functional departments. Key words: Quality control circle; Critically ill patients; Pressure ulcer management