A long-term program undertaken by a large group of hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies has reduced new bedsores by a remarkable margin, well exceeding the project's original goals. The Pressure Ulcer Collaborative project, organized by the New Jersey Hospital Association, had hoped to reduce bedsores 25 percent. To do so, they set up systems encouraging doctors, nurses and other health workers to consistently use proven methods for preventing such ulcers.
Rather than merely achieving their 25 percent goal, the project's 150 participants actually cut bedsores by just over 70 percent on average between September 2005 and May 2007. At the start of the project, 18 percent of new patients developed a bedsore during their stay, but by the project's end, the rate fell to 5 percent.
To learn more about the program:
- read this Associated Press article
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