Reducing Nares Acquired Pressure Injuries "Protect the Nares Because I Care" Project in Adult Inpatients: A Quality Improvement Project.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to develop a preventive care bundle to reduce the incidence of nares acquired pressure injuries (NAPIs) to 3% in the adult inpatient population. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants included adult inpatients in a large, Magnet-designated, 664-bed academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. APPROACH: Through our organization's "RUSH Way" QI model, we developed an evidence-based NAPI Bundle comprising a "T"-shaped hydrocolloid thin barrier, a tube holder securement device, patient assessments, and site checks. The project was initiated by a team of clinicians and administrators. An incidence report was conducted of hospital-wide existing NAPIs in 2015. A pilot QI project of the NAPI Bundle was implemented in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) from January 2016 to May 2016 and then hospital-wide implementation began in June 2016. Data were collected on the incidence of NAPIs, and documentation of hydrocolloid dressing on the nose and intact, incidence of adverse events with hydrocolloid dressing, and hydrocolloid dressing changed every 3 days were evaluated. RESULTS: In 2015, the house-wide baseline NAPI incidence rate was 4.9%. Data from the SICU pilot confirmed Bundle effectiveness, as zero NAPIs occurred during the pilot period. The hospital-wide expanded pilot in 2016 showed the NAPI rate to be 3.2%, and in 2017, the incidence rate was reduced to 1.4%, well below the 3% goal. CONCLUSION: The NAPI Bundle implemented in our organization by RNs substantially reduced the incidence of adult inpatient NAPIs.

COVID-19 and Nurse-Sensitive Indicators: Using Performance Improvement Teams to Address Quality Indicators During a Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Nurse-sensitive quality indicators have historically been used as a metric of nursing care quality in health care organizations. PROBLEM: At our academic medical center, critically ill COVID-19 patients led to a dramatic change in the organizational standard of care resulting in an increase in nurse-sensitive health care-associated infections. APPROACH: Nursing performance improvement teams provided the structure for development of innovative strategies implemented in real time by our frontline clinicians to address the quality and safety issues found with these elevated health care-associated infections. OUTCOMES: A new COVID-19 CLABSI (central line-associated bloodstream infection) Tip Sheet and a Prone Positioning Kit for HAPI Prevention are strategies developed to address quality of care issues experienced with the COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Deployment of these innovative practice strategies has led to a decline in health care-associated infections and instituted a new care standard for the COVID-19 patients.

Prevention of Tracheostomy-Related Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers.

Objective To determine if standardization of perioperative tracheostomy care procedures decreased the incidence of hospital-acquired tracheostomy-related pressure ulcers. Methods All patients at least 18 years old who underwent placement of a tracheostomy tube in the operating room from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, were cared for postoperatively through an institutionally adopted quality improvement protocol. This included 4 elements: (1) placement of a hydrocolloid dressing underneath the tracheostomy flange in the postoperative period, (2) removal of plate sutures within 7 days of the tracheostomy procedure, (3) placement of a polyurethane foam dressing after suture removal, and (4) neutral positioning of the head. One year after the bundle was initiated, a retrospective analysis was performed to compare the percentage of tracheostomy patients who developed pressure ulcers versus the preintervention period. Results The incidence of tracheostomy-related pressure ulcers decreased from 20 of 183 tracheostomies (10.93%) prior to use of the standardized protocol to 2 of 155 tracheostomies (1.29%). Chi-square analysis showed a significant difference between the groups, with a P value of .0003. Discussion Adoption of this care bundle at our institution resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of hospital-acquired tracheostomy-related pressure ulcers. The impact of any single intervention within our protocol was not assessed and could be an area of further investigation. Implications for Practice Adoption of a standardized posttracheostomy care bundle at the institution level may result in the improved care of patients with tracheostomies and specifically may reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers.