Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Committee Chair Name & Credentials:
  Julia Steed, PhD, RN, FNP-BC
• Committee Member Name & Credentials:
  Joan King, PhD, ACNP, ANP, FAANP

DNP Project Abstract

Nurses Knowledge of Perioperative Pressure Injury Assessment Tools: A quality improvement project

Purpose
The development of pressure injuries continues to be problematic among surgical patient populations with significant impact on quality of patient care and the financial burden of surgical complications. The purpose of this pilot project was to evaluate the prevalence of institutional implementation of evidence-based pressure injury prevention strategies by assessing the exposure of perioperative nurses to comprehensive risk assessment and nursing care practice recommendations. The Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) established an evidence-based toolkit in 2016 that includes three prevention assessment tools that effectively prevent the development of pressure injuries among surgical patients specifically. Staff nurse’s knowledge of evidence-based assessment tools has been identified as a key factor that positively influences effective prevention of perioperative pressure injuries among surgical patients.

Methods
This quality improvement project was designed to assess knowledge, attitudes, education, and care practices related to evidence-based pressure injury assessment tools among a convenience sample of perioperative nurses at two separate, inpatient study sites. A 10-item Likert-style, fill-in-the blank survey was developed using REDCap and was electronically delivered to participants. The overall study period was four weeks.

Results
Participants included 57 perioperative nurses. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data and statistical survey results included quality measures. Though 4.8 (SD 0.8) participants indicated a belief that pressure injury prevention is very important to the surgical patient’s total health outcome, knowledge regarding overall pressure injury prevention was lacking among participants regardless of educational preparation or years of experience. Additionally, the Braden Scale was inappropriately identified as the tool of choice by 80.7% of respondents.

Implications for Practice
This quality improvement project provides insight into perioperative nurses’ knowledge, attitude, education, and care practices regarding pressure injury risk assessment and prevention strategies. Future implications should address the knowledge gap concerning prevention and prioritize implementation of perioperative specific evidence-based prevention tools into standard practice.