Pressure injuries: Pressure injury classification and treatment (2 of 2)

Pressure injury is a largely preventable medical condition, as previously discussed in Module Part 1 -about pressure injury risk assessment and prevention.  

However, it is still a commonly occurring problem around the world, with a prevalence of up to 72.5% across a variety of healthcare settings and geographic locations and higher incident rates in special populations such as patients in critical care, those undergoing palliative care, individuals with spinal cord injuries, and neonates and children.

For individuals, pressure injuries can represent significant amounts of illness, a major impact on quality of life, and even mortality, while also imposing considerable financial burden on healthcare systems by, for example, extending hospital stays with correspondingly increased costs of treatment.

The third edition of the Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Injuries: Clinical practice guideline. The International Guideline, was released by the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel and Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance in 2019.

Along with the evidence-based recommendations discussed in Module 1 about completing a comprehensive pressure injury risk assessment for individuals at risk and providing an effective pressure injury prevention plan, the guideline includes recommendations about the classification and treatment of established pressure injuries.

This resource is intended for use in Australia and worldwide by nurses, midwives, and all other health professionals, regardless of clinical discipline or clinical setting.

This module is Part 2 of two modules about pressure injuries which, with a nursing/midwifery focus, will discuss the evidence-based interventions for the classification and treatment of pressure injuries, that are recommended in the latest international guideline.