Pressure Ulcers: A Comprehensive Study on the Impact of Alternating Pressure Air Mattresses in Hospitalized Patients with Limited Mobility

Instruction

Describe how you would find a sample that would represent your population of interest

Solution

The study PICOT question states: In hospitalized patients with limited mobility (P), how does the use of alternating pressure air mattresses (I) compared to no intervention (C) affect the rates of pressure ulcers (O) within six months (T)? The study participants include hospitalized adult patients with limited mobility who have a higher risk of developing pressure ulcers (Beeckman et al., 2019).

Inclusion criteria will include patients who have a higher risk of developing pressure ulcers, those with limited mobility, and those who are bed bound and/or chair-bound. Different instruments such as the Braden score will be used to assess the eligibility of these patients. The main purpose of the Braden Scale is to help care providers and researchers measure the risk of developing pressure ulcers. This instrument can help in planning effective interventions to prevent pressure injuries.

Exclusion criteria include those who have a lower risk of developing pressure ulcers, those who do not have limited mobility, and those who are not either bed or chair-bound. This is a single-center study; therefore, all the participants will be recruited from the same organization (Serraes et al., 2020). However, it may include an interdepartmental sample.

Before the initiation of the project, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) must first approve it. (Beeckman et al., 2019). All the participants will receive education or a brief explanation of the project (Serraes et al., 2020). The participants will then be provided with oral and written informed consent to meet the ethical requirements of research studies using human samples.

References

Beeckman, D., Serraes, B., Anrys, C., Van Tiggelen, H., Van Hecke, A., & Verhaeghe, S. (2019). A multicentre prospective randomised controlled clinical trial comparing the effectiveness and cost of a static air mattress and alternating air pressure mattress to prevent pressure ulcers in nursing home residents. International journal of nursing studies, 97, 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.05.015

Serraes, B., Hecke, A. V., Van Tiggelen, H., Anrys, C., Verhaeghe, S., & Beeckman, D. (2020). An exploration of nursing home residents’ experiences of a non‐powered static air mattress overlay to prevent pressure ulcers. International Wound Journal, 17(5), 1166-1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.13429