Preventing Pressure Injury Related to Personal Protective Equipment.

Abstract

One side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic was the increased need for personal protective equipment (PPE). At first, the biggest problem facing nurses was just having PPE available to care for these highly infectious patients. But the length of time wearing PPE has created its own new issue: PPE-related pressure injury. Bambi et al, in their small Italian study titled “Pressure Injuries Due to Personal Protective Equipment in COVID-19 Critical Care Units,” found that 77% of nurses had a device-related pressure injury (DRPI) develop, primarily on the nose, ears, or forehead, after an average of just 5 hours of wearing PPE.Another significant concern for nurses is the need to prevent infection while preventing PPE-related pressure injury using protective dressings or moisture barriers. The National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) recommends 3 measures to minimize the risk of infection if you are using a dressing or moisture barrier to prevent pressure injury. The first is to do another fit test if possible. The second is to do a “seal check” after the application of a dressing or barrier. And finally, when removing the dressing, NPIAP recommends assuming that the dressings are contaminated and removing them with your eyes closed while holding your breath.