Pressure Injuries

The prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure injuries is decreasing in Tennessee; however cases still occur. Hospital-acquired pressure injuries increase pain, duration of care, risk of secondary infection, and risk of mortality. In fact, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement reports that nearly 60,000 hospital patients die annually from complications of a hospital-acquired pressure injury. The burden of pressure injuries is financial as well as clinical. The National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel states that pressure injury care approaches $11 billion annually, with individual pressure injury treatment costs ranging between $500 and $70,000. The Tennessee Center for Patient Safety supports hospital efforts to reduce hospital-acquired pressure injuries through provision of evidence-based risk-screening and prevention strategies, focused education programs, and opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing of practice.