Pressure ulcers: a clinical audit to determine compliance against the aSSKINg framework in an adult community nursing setting.

Abstract

Assessment of pressure ulcer (PU) risk remains a challenge in clinical practice. The first part of this article (Martin and Holloway, 2024) discussed the evidence base underpinning the development of clinical guidelines for PUs alongside the creation of the bundle approach regarding PU prevention. This article, part two, presents the results of a clinical audit that explores compliance against a PU prevention bundle (the aSSKINg framework) in an adult community nursing setting in the south-east of England. The clinical audit was conducted between July-December 2021 and included records of 150 patients. Overall, compliance against the aSSKINg framework was poor, with only two criterion being met: equipment provision for chair and referral to the tissue viability team. Short-term recommendations are that mandatory PU training for staff in the management of PUs should be implemented, and the tissue viability nurse network should be increased. The long-term recommendation was the introduction of the aSSKINg framework as a template into the electronic patient record.