ABSTRACT

Hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) are adverse events that can occur in a healthcare setting when appropriate prevention methods are not put into place. As nurses are the caregivers most often with the patient, they play a pivotal role in HAPI prevention. The incidence of HAPIs within OSF Saint Francis Medical Center has continued to climb and exceeded the organization’s target in 2023. With HAPIs on the rise and new graduate nurses starting with minimal clinical experience, change had to happen. The purpose of this DNP project was to determine the impact a pressure injury prevention orientation program had on pressure injury prevention knowledge and competency of the SSKIN bundle with new graduate nurses in the medical surgical units. The interventions included an in-person targeted education session, followed by a four-week online course and one-on-one rounding with the new graduate nurses. The program had a 75% completion rate (n=21). Pressure injury prevention knowledge was determined using a pre and posttest method, with a median of 20% increase in knowledge. A non-parametric Wilcoxen rank sign test found a statistical significance in pre to post test scores (p<0.001). SSKIN bundle competence was determined using a SSKIN Bundle Tracer tool and found 57% of learners competent. This project provided significant enough change to expand throughout the OSF system and will continue to empower new graduate nurses to provide high quality pressure injury prevention with their patients.