The vital role of healthcare assistants in pressure ulcer prevention: learning from research in practice

Abstract

This article reports on the impact of an educational intervention to raise awareness of the prevention of pressure ulceration as an integral part of the PROACT project. This initiative took place in the north east of England in residential and non-residential care homes from May 2017 to March 2020, with a training programme on the need to raise awareness of the prevention of pressure ulceration delivered between January 2018 and September 2019. In total, 571 participants took part in the project. Of these, 493 (86%) were health and social care staff, including healthcare assistants, and the other 78 (14%) were informal carers. While many participants reported an increased level of confidence following the training programme, many could not bridge the theory–practice gap in terms of being able to articulate how they would prevent the development of pressure ulcers in practice. The study highlights the need for healthcare assistants to refer patients living with the earliest stages of pressure ulceration to other members of the healthcare team. Daily monitoring should include training about the key risk factors of ulceration, such as capacity for movement and being able to walk around, basic skin examinations and the continence status of patients. Training in the importance of monitoring and reporting weight loss, alongside adequate hydration, is also needed.