The effect of an educational intervention on facility staff knowledge regarding pressure ulcer care

Abstract

Three million pressure ulcers occur in the United States in a year. Pressure ulcers are painful, stressful, and costly to treat and may be preventable. In a frontier facility, staff education about new techniques for preventing and treating pressure ulcers is often problematic. In the rural area, there are fewer opportunities, less money, less time for training and education of staff as well as high staff turnover. These obstacles to nursing staff's ability to maintain competency can lead to less than optimal care. The simple act of reading an article or attending a lecture can increase pressure ulcer knowledge. The purpose of this study was to examine nursing staff knowledge before and after an educational intervention in a frontier critical access/nursing home facility. Knowledge scores did increase but because of the small sample, size statistical significance was not obtained although the knowledge score increased. Increased educational opportunities can improve pressure ulcer knowledge in a rural facility.