dict the risk of surgery-related pres-
sure injury or ulcer. The measure-
ment was designed for hospital set-
tings, and patients in outpatient facili-
ties are awake, alert and ambulating
after surgery. They don't have the risk
factors of a hospitalized patient who
is heavily sedated and can't move in
bed. If you'd like your nurses to have
a paper-and-pencil fixed risk assess-
ment measurement, I would have
them do it with the Scott Triggers
Tool (osmag.net/Qou5QQ) instead.
4. Assess the skin at
admission.
If a patient presents
with a pressure ulcer already on his
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 1
• NEEDS HEALING Procedures that immobilize the leg as well as
post-op exercises can cause friction blisters and other injuries to the
heels.
University
of
Nebraska
Medical
Center
than that in patients who
are under a lot of stress
and malnourished."
Dr. Padula, a health
economist, cost-justifies
the $50,000 beds by not-
ing that the average pres-
sure injury can cost
around $100,000 to treat
and around $250,000 to
litigate.
• Pressure maps. A
pressure grid placed
under a patient's body is
hooked up to a monitor,
so a nurse can explore
areas that the patient has
been laying on for a long
period of time. The sen-
sors in the grid document
how the patient is posi-
tioned during their recov-
ery. If patients have been
stationary for a couple of
hours, the map will let the
nurse know so she can
reposition them.
— Adam Taylor
