How well do perioperative practitioners implement pressure injury prevention guidelines?: An observational study

Background: Perioperative pressure injury (PI) remains problematic. Five key pressure injury prevention (PIP) strategies were identified according to literature. However, little is known about current perioperative PIP practice in compliance to international guidelines. Methods: This study describes perioperative health care practitioners' implementation of five key PIP strategies in compliance with international PIP guidelines in a tertiary hospital. This was achieved via observation of the implementation of PIP strategies using a structured data collection tool and skin inspection on postoperative day 2. Results: Seventy-three patients undergoing surgical procedures were recruited. Of these, 36 were identified as at-risk of developing PI based on the Waterlow risk assessment. The number of PIP strategies implemented across the sample ranged from 27 to 49 strategies; and increased according to risk, with 'high-risk' patients receiving more PIP strategies than those patients at 'moderate risk', although this finding was statistically non significant. However, there were significant correlations between the number of PIP strategies used and length of surgery and number of medical devices and/or equipment used, with 4 Stage 1 PIs observed postoperative day 2 on patients' ears, resulting from oxygen tubing. Conclusions: These clinical and statistically significant results may inform the development of education regarding improvement of perioperative PIP practice.