• Kelly McFee, Julie M Murdoch, and Mandy Spitzer.
• Kelly McFee is Director of Wound Care, Mosaic Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Crit Care Nurse. 2023 Oct 1; 43 (5): 414841-48.

BackgroundPressure injuries remain the most common hospital-acquired condition, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are at especially high risk for pressure injuries, including those related to medical devices, because of their lower tissue tolerance, prolonged intubation, and common treatment with prone positioning.Local ProblemThe COVID-19 pandemic brought an increased incidence of hospital-acquired pressure injury. A 350-bed hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri, recognized that an intervention to lower the risk of pressure injury for these patients was needed.MethodsA quality improvement project was initiated to reduce the incidence of pressure injuries in patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit. A protocol was implemented for patients with COVID-19 undergoing prone positioning that included the use of dressing packets. The incidence of hospital-acquired pressure injury during the 1-year periods before and after implementation of the protocol were determined.ResultsBefore implementation of the new protocol, 18 of 155 intensive care unit patients with COVID-19 who were placed in a prone position (11.6%) experienced a hospital-acquired pressure or medical device-related injury, compared with 3 of 111 patients (2.7%) after protocol implementation, a reduction of 76.7% (P = .008).ConclusionsThe risk of hospital-acquired pressure injuries can be reduced with additional education and the use of appropriate products and protocols. All patients who undergo prone positioning, regardless of diagnosis, may benefit from implementation of a pressure injury prevention protocol that includes the use of dressing packets.©2023 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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