Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Services

Advisor

Harold Griffin

Abstract

Prevention of pressure ulcers (PUs) in acute care settings is an attempt to avoid adverse events (AE). Literature shows that wounds such as PUs are the most prevalent complication for spinal cord injury patients (SCI) including quadriplegic individuals (QI). SCI and QI bring important pressure ulcer (PU) prevention knowledge to the hospital which involves teamwork and participation by nurses, organizations, and patients. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the effectiveness of acute care guidelines for PUs by drawing insights from multiple sources including interviews with QI, healthcare clinicians, care providers, family members, and an online search of secondary data. Support for the study was the theory of protocol-based care (PBC) developed by Pawson & Tilley, which states standardization of patient care follows the constructs of mechanism and context affecting outcome. The focus of the research questions was to determine the extent mechanisms like PU prevention in acute care settings affected the outcome of PUs and how context of program execution led to an outcome of a secondarily-acquired wound. This qualitative case study captured perspectives about the effectiveness of PU prevention guidelines. All data were analyzed in depth to formulate significant conclusions on the PU issue. The results showed the PU prevention guidelines are efficient and a primary defense for preventing a PU. However, the main finding was the PU prevention guidelines were not always executed properly for vulnerable patients like QI. Positive social change is promoted by highlighting the health needs of SCI patients and insights into PU prevention with a goal of reducing development of PUs, thereby improving the quality of life for high-risk patients by avoiding unnecessary AE.

Download

Share

 
COinS