Pressure ulcer prevalence and perceptions on prevention: A hospital-wide survey of health professionals

Objective: Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) remain a problem despite numerous prevention initiatives. To understand why, it is necessary to know health professionals' perceptions regarding the importance of prevention, and the usability of current initiatives. We hypothesised that positive perceptions of existing initiatives would not be correlated with low HAPU prevalence, and that health professionals would perceive the initiatives to have a low usability. Method: A two-part, online survey was developed and distributed electronically to nurses, in-training physicians and attending physicians, across all inpatient and perioperative departments of an academic hospital. Part one of the survey was the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Staff Attitude Scale on beliefs regarding PU prevention; part two was additional questions on the usability of existing preventative initiatives. The results of the survey were compared with quarterly HAPU prevalence data by hospital unit. Results: In ...