Week 8 discussion
Nursing Homes in Your Community and Neighboring Communities
Nursing homes have become a viable option for geriatric
patients who require routine care and need help performing basic activities of
daily living, with about 3.3 million patients residing in nursing homes in the
United States (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2013). While
nursing homes provide care and services to patients, problems can arise
resulting in reduced quality of care and, in some cases, illness and morbidity.
The severe implications of pressure ulcers make them a major concern for elders
residing in nursing homes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(2013) estimate that 7.5% of nursing home residents have pressure ulcers and
about 82,000 patients develop them each year. In your role as the advanced
practice nurse, you must understand factors that contribute to the incidence of
pressure ulcers in order to improve patient outcomes. For this Discussion, you
examine the prevalence of pressure ulcers in nursing homes and develop
strategies for increasing awareness and reducing incidence.
To prepare:
Review Chapter 38 of the Flaherty and Resnick text and
Chapter 12 of the Holroyd-Leduc and Reddy text.
Select four nursing homes in your community and/or
neighboring communities. Research and locate reports on these nursing homes
through organizations such as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Compare the four nursing homes you selected based on
reported cases of the development of new pressure ulcers.
Think about factors in the nursing home setting that
contribute to pressure ulcer issues, such as patient activity, nutrition, or
the number of staff available to care for patients.
Research guidelines for the prevention of pressure ulcers.
Think about how you might increase awareness among nursing home staff about the
incidence and consequences of pressure ulcers in patients.
Post on or before Day 3 a brief description of the four
nursing homes you selected from your community and/or neighboring communities.
Compare these four nursing homes based on the reported cases of new pressure
ulcers. Then, explain factors in the nursing home setting that might contribute
to incidence of pressure ulcer issues. Finally, based on guidelines for the
prevention of pressure ulcers, explain how you might increase awareness among
nursing home staff about the incidence and consequences of pressure ulcers in
patients.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond on or before Day 6 to at least two of your
colleagues on two different days in one or more of the ways listed below.
Respond to colleagues who selected different nursing homes than you did.
Offer and support an alternative perspective based on your
own experience and additional literature search.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional
literature search.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for
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