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 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.