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Q&A: How to prevent hospital-acquired pressure ulcers/injuries

Each year, 2.5 million patients suffer from pressure ulcers and injuries, with 60,000 dying from complications. To put that into some context, in 2018 there were fewer suicide attempts (1.4 million) and deaths (48,000) than there were pressure ulcer cases and deaths.

Patients on ventilators who are unable to reposition themselves are among the most vulnerable to pressure ulcers. Between the large number of COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization and the upcoming flu season, many facilities will have more patients than ever whom they’ll need to keep from developing bedsores and ulcers.

Klaus Nether, DHS, CSSMBB, is the executive director of high reliability product delivery at the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, which has made preventing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and injuries (HAPU/I) a priority for the past two years. He answered questions from Patient Safety Monitor Journal via email about the Center’s efforts to prevent HAPU/I.

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