Date of Conferral

2-18-2026

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Jill Sanko

Abstract

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) are recognized as a prominent cause of patient morbidity and mortality, affect lengths of stay, and are one of the most costly and chronic adverse events in healthcare. A structured Turn Teams program with enhancements was evaluated in a novel unit within a healthcare organization that had implemented the approach on another unit as the focus of this Doctor of Nursing Practice project. The guiding question was, Does implementing Turn Teams as a quality improvement measure improve pressure injury rates in patients with a Braden Score of 18 or lower and enhance staff compliance with the hospital’s 2-hour turn policy? Over the course of 6 weeks, the project measured HAPI incidence rates and turning compliance using a pre-post assessment approach. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate analyze compliance rates and HAPI incidence per 1,000 patient days to understand the impact. Results showed a 40% decrease in HAPIs and a 30% increase in staff compliance with the turning policy on the novel target unit. The principal outcome of this project is a Turn Team Implementation Toolkit that includes role descriptions, workflow protocols, and compliance audit tools. Reduced HAPI and adherence to the patient turn policy illustrate the benefits of this project to the hospital, unit, and patients. By ensuring that all patients, regardless of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or clinical complexity, have equitable preventive treatment, the Turn Team initiative promotes consistent, compassionate, and culturally sensitive care. These programmatic enhancements sustain advancement in care delivery.

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