Abstract
- Investigation of pressure ulcers’ prevention and management
- Management remains a challenge due to barriers
- Socio-cultural and ethical aspects should be considered
- Efficient treatment plan should be patient-centered
- Data were sampled from a research database
- Historical and mathematical approaches are examined
Introduction
- The management of pressure ulcers is challenging
- Emergency departments play a critical role
- Studying pressure ulcers helps clinicians practically
- Patients’ involvement and their culture are essential
- Better ways of prevention and management
- The study helps find risk assessment methods
Pressure Ulcers: General Background
- The skin and underlying tissue condition
- Caused by body parts’ pressure shear
- Predominantly due to impairment and other factors
- Skin pain, discoloration, itching, and warm sense
- Experienced by people restricted in movements
- Older people are vulnerable to pressure ulcers (Pfeffer, 2019)
Pressure Ulcers’ Negative Impact
- Decreased quality of life due to medication
- Pain and wounds at last stages (Mervis & Phillips, 2019)
- Wounds may lead to death from infections
- Chronic wounds are costly to manage
- Dependence from health practitioners and various comorbidities
Management Peculiarities
- Pressure ulcers’ management may be challenging
- It requires advanced medical strategies and risk assessment
- There are different approaches to treatment plan
- Patient’s history and other factors are considered
- Awareness in the community for self-management
Historical and Mathematical Perspectives
- Immobile patients require efficient treatment in particular
- Nursing assistance – bed linen change and massage
- Analysis of factors and the patient’s history
- Historical perspective is the patient’s individual predisposition
- It includes family history and skin problems
- Mathematical perspective – formula for predisposition’s identification
Historical Perspective
- Patient’s individual characteristics should be assessed
- Health history includes pathologies, treatments, or disabilities (Casal-Guisande et al., 2020)
- Assessment of individual predisposition – efficient treatment plan
- Efficient treatment improves the patient’s life quality
- Ignorance of comorbidities reduces life expectancy
Mathematical Perspective
- It allows to interpret the problem’s aspects
- Mathematical algorithms help understand problems’ principles (Khlifi et al., 2019)
- Accurate calculations may predict pressure ulcers’ causes
- Basic prerequisites along with individual indicators
- Weight and the bed surface determine tendency
Ethical and Cultural Perspectives
- Presence of cultural diversity and ethical obstacles
- Healthcare professional are responsible for treatment
- Treatment should be culturally competent and patient-centered
- Ethical perspective – medical community’ and law’s challenges
- Cultural perspective – cultural tradition’s impact on treatment
Ethics
- Philosophical knowledge of right and wrong
- Ethics is related to human action consequences
- Ethical standards are perceived differently
- Generalized approaches to pressure ulcers are disadvantageous
- All factors are considered for ethical treatment
Ethical Perspective: Medical Community
- Patients may have pressure ulcers in facilities
- Poor understanding, collaboration, training, and inappropriate equipment
- Accountability is an ethical issue of management
- There are strict guidelines for health workers
- Patients are also responsible for their condition
Ethical Perspective: Law
- All health facilities are responsible by law
- Violation of regulations leads to their liability
- The Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act
- Laws help patients control their treatment
- They help educate the public as well
- They provide guidelines for respect and responsibility
Cultural Perspective: Affected Societies
- Different ethnic groups – unequal health outcomes
- African Americans are more vulnerable to pressure ulcers (Bliss et al., 2019)
- They experience pressure ulcers’ more severe stages
- They have a higher mortality risk
- Low income and low-quality care are factors
Cultural Perspective: Impact of Traditions
- Cultural wellbeing is crucial for treatment planning
- Different cultures perceive wounds and healing differently
- Beliefs may conflict with proper treatment
- Clinicians should consider cultural and religious values
- They should also inform about beliefs’ harm for treatment
Conclusion
- Pressure ulcers is a disturbing condition
- It requires efficient, patent-centered, and ethical treatment
- Management requires multiple technical and practical ways
- Patient’s individual data is essential for planning
- Mathematical analysis allows to prevent pressure ulcers
- Patients may significantly contribute to their treatment
References
Bliss, D. Z., Gurvich, O., Savik, K., Eberly, L. E., Harms, S., Mueller, C., & Wiltzen, K. (2017). Racial and ethnic disparities in the healing of pressure ulcers present at nursing home admission. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 72, 187-194. Web.
Casal-Guisande, M., Comesaña-Campos, A., Cerqueiro-Pequeño, J., & Bouza-Rodríguez, J. B. (2020). Design and development of a methodology based on expert systems, applied to the treatment of pressure ulcers. Diagnostics, 10(9), 614. Web.
Khlifi, L., Graiet, H., Sahli, S., Ben-Hadj-Mohamed, M., Khelil, S., Bouzidi, N., & Miled, A. E. (2019). Evidence of metabolic imbalance and oxidative stress among patients suffering from pressure ulcers. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 30(4), 414-421. Web.
Mervis, J. S., & Phillips, T. J. (2019). Pressure ulcers: Pathophysiology, epidemiology, risk factors, and presentation. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 81(4), 881-890. Web.
Pfeffer, J. (2019). The cause of pressure sores. In Prevention of pressure sores (pp. 1-18). CRC Press. Web.