Scholarly Assignment: Prevention of Pressure Injuries in Older Adults In Acute Hospital and Home Settings
Scholarly Activity: Prevention of Pressure Injuries in Older Adults
Overview
Scholarly activities help explore the state of the art in healthcare issues and current and emerging evidence-based best practices for managing them. These activities are crucial for enhancing professional knowledge, clinical skills, and practice changes. The scholarly activity was a three-day seminar on preventing pressure ulcers at the facility, held in March 2026. Recent developments in NPWT/VAC technology, emerging technologies, and favorable environmental conditions in healthcare that support innovation and technology inspired the seminar. The seminar was held organization-wide by the administration in conjunction with wound care specialists in the state. The seminar’s target audience was care nurses and physicians, particularly in the home care and medical-surgical departments. The activity equipped me with knowledge of the severity of pressure injuries among older adults, prevalence rates, incidence rates, risk factors, and the benefits of NPWT. The scholarly activity also helped enhance knowledge of pressure-injury wound care in the hospital and in the community.
Problem
Pressure injuries are a significant problem among older adults. Evidence from research shows that older adults aged 60 and older are at higher risk of developing pressure ulcers, and there is a projected increase in pressure ulcer prevalence, given dynamic sociodemographic trends and an ageing population (Pang et al., 2025). Pressure ulcers complicate care delivery, as they take a long time to heal and carry a higher risk of infection. Roussou et al. (2023) showed that pressure ulcers are associated with pain, significant psychological distress, and social, cognitive, spiritual, and emotional pain, highlighting their impact beyond the physiological. These ulcers also limit activities of daily living and complicate prognosis, especially for patients with chronic illnesses. In acute care settings, risk factors for developing pressure ulcers include chronic conditions such as diabetes and chronic conditions that lead to prolonged bed rest, hence the need for consistent skin assessments, scheduled repositioning, and supportive care surfaces for pressure prevention. At the same time, poor mobility and limited resources (including a lack of caregivers) are the major risk factors for pressure ulcers in the community/homes. Pressure ulcers among older adults place a significant burden on healthcare resources, increasing the workload for care providers and primary caregivers and contributing to comorbidities and mortality among these older adults (McAuliffe et al., 2023). Thus, its management is crucial.
There are various benefits to a nurse participating in this scholarly activity. The activity enhanced knowledge or evidence-based practice in pressure in wound care, including early detection, management, and prevention in hospital and home environments. The activity also enhances nurses’ patient education skills, thereby improving their participation in care delivery and coordination. In addition, the nurse learns the appropriate skills and techniques for applying negative-pressure wound dressings, enhancing the efficacy of the intervention.
Solution
The solution addressed in the scholarly activity is vacuum-assisted closure (VAC), also known as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), in accordance with the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel guidelines. The solution is a treatment intervention that utilizes controlled suction to a wound to help it heal more efficiently. The intervention entails placing a foam/gauze dressing over the wound, then applying an adhesive film to seal the area. A tube is then connected to a portable vacuum pump that removes air and fluid from the wound, reducing edema and inflammatory fluids, and preventing infections. The intervention also brings the wound edges together with suction, reduces the need for frequent dressing changes, and promotes healthy tissue growth. Vacuum-assisted closure is an effective intervention for managing chronic wounds, with significant improvements across assessment, drainage, life impact, smell, social, sleep, dressing, and psychological scales (Marangi et al., 2023). VACs are evidence-based, innovative interventions that can help improve the management of pressure ulcers among older adults, shorten healing time, and reduce infections, comorbidities, and infection-related mortality. The knowledge will also be crucial for caregiver education on the management of these pressure ulcers at home.
Opportunity
This scholarship activity can help nurses grow by developing strong skills that translate beyond clinical practice. The scholarship activity instilled knowledge and clinical skills in ulcer prevention that can be translated into practice and taught to caregivers, ensuring quality care delivery at home and in hospitals. It encourages observation, attention to detail, and problem-solving. Exposure to human experiences of healing can help deepen perspective and appreciation for every professional’s role and their contribution in the care process. Exploring topics such as pressure injuries can build on existing research to help improve innovations. The scholarly activity enhanced participants’ knowledge of pressure injury management and complication prevention, thereby improving patients’ quality of life.
Programmatic Competencies Addressed
The competences developed include the ability to assess, prevent, and manage pressure injuries. The program enhances critical thinking and clinical judgment as nurses evaluate patient conditions and choose appropriate interventions. In addition, it promotes professionalism and ongoing learning while supporting adherence to recognized standards, such as those from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel. The scholarly activity also laid the foundations for research within the profession, supporting innovation and improving care outcomes.
References
Marangi, G. F., Mirra, C., Gratteri, M., Cogliandro, A., Salzillo, R., Segreto, F., Romano. F. D., Rossi, C., Persichetti, P., & Persichetti, P. (2024). Switching from galenic to advanced dressings or vacuum-assisted closure therapy can improve the quality of life of patients with chronic non-responsive pressure skin ulcers: Preliminary data with Italian translation of WOUND-Q. Advances in Wound Care, 13(3), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1089/wound.2022.0150
McAuliffe, P. B., Winter, E. E., Talwar, A. A., Desai, A. A., Broach, R. B., & Fischer, J. P. (2023). Pressure ulcer trends in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment from 2008-2019. The American Surgeon™, 89(12), 5609–5618. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348231158691
Pang, Y., Du, Y., Zhou, W., Liu, S., & Yuan, Y. (2025). Trend analysis of pressure ulcers in adults 60 years and older from 1990 to 2021 using jointpoint regression and Bayesian age period cohort models. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 25198. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11027-5
Roussou, E., Fasoi, G., Stavropoulou, A., Kelesi, M., Vasilopoulos, G., Gerogianni, G., & Alikari, V. (2023). Quality of life of patients with pressure ulcers: a systematic review. Medicine and Pharmacy Reports, 96(2), 123. https://doi.org/10.15386/mpr-2531
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This week’s Scholar activity is on pressure injuries both in the hospital and home care settings on the emphasis on the heightened risk among older adults. In an acute setting finding that patients with chronic conditions especially with diabetes and extended periods of pressure making consistent skin assessments, scheduled repositioning and supportive surfaces essential components of care. In home environments older patients with decreased morbility and limited resources including caregiver challenges have the need for education for early detection and prevention.
The activity explores wound vacs as effective intervention especially for complex wounds, the support good vascular support, tissue healing and decrease in swelling around the wound area. These evidence-based strategies can enhance patient care with better outcomes and healing across the environment.
For a nurse participating in this scholarly activity helps enhance knowledge of evidence-based practice. This includes early detection and managing and preventing pressure injuries both in active and home care environment.
- Align with guidelines for National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel
- Improve early detection especially in older patients
- Apply effective techniques repositioning, skin care and use of wound vacs
- Enhance caregiver education
- Strengthen education and understanding of evidence-based practice
This scholarly can help nurse growth by making strong skills that translate beyond clinical practice. It encourages observation and attention to detail and problem solving. Exposure to human experiences healing can help deepen perspective. Exploring topics such as pressure injuries can build and add to research
Competences that are developed are ability to assess prevent and manage pressure injuries. The program enhances critical thinking and clinical judgement as nurses evaluate patient conditions and choose appropriate interventions. In addition, it promotes professionalism and ongoing learning while supporting adherence to recognize standards such as from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel.