Abstract
This transversal study aimed to analyze factors related to, and defining characteristics of, Impaired Tissue Integrity in persons with vascular ulcers, and compare the mean of these factors between the groups presenting different degrees in the severity of tissue compromise. The study was undertaken in February-August 2009, in the municipal health network of Goiânia in the state of Goiás, using interviews, clinical examinations and photographic records of the wounds. For analysis, simple and percentage frequencies and the Student t-test (p<0.05) were used. Five related factors were identified in more than half of the 42 participants: impaired circulation, knowledge deficit, chemical irritants, fluid excess and nutritional factors. Three defining characteristics were identified in all of the participants. There was no difference in the mean of related factors between groups. Impaired Tissue Integrity in persons with vascular ulcers was a phenomenon which demands professional attention extending beyond circulatory impairment. The mean of factors did not indicate greater or lesser severity of the compromising of the tissue integrity.
Highlights
The need to describe the phenomena observed in clinical and nursing practice is unquestionable, if one is to contribute to the scientific basis of knowledge in this area
In a review of the literature, only two studies were found which referred to the identification of nursing diagnoses in persons with vascular ulcers, both undertaken in the hospital context.[14,18]
The ITI, in persons with vascular ulcers, was related to eight of the 11 related factors stipulated in the taxonomy, with emphasis placed on impaired circulation, knowledge deficit, and the action of chemical irritants, fluid excess and nutritional factors, identified in more than half of the participants
Summary
The need to describe the phenomena observed in clinical and nursing practice is unquestionable, if one is to contribute to the scientific basis of knowledge in this area. In assisting persons with vascular ulcers, one phenomenon of interest to the profession is the nursing diagnosis of Impaired Tissue Integrity (ITI). This diagnosis was included in the NANDA International taxonomy II, in 1978, was revised in 1998, and has not been modified since . In a review of the literature, only two studies were found which referred to the identification of nursing diagnoses in persons with vascular ulcers, both undertaken in the hospital context.[14,18] In these studies, the authors attributed to the participants the nursing diagnosis of Impaired Skin Integrity (ISI)
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