Abstracts from the Wounds Australia Conference 14-17 September 2022

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the impact of a healthy skin and wound prevention programme by measuring nursing staff knowledge and patient wound prevalence in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) pre and post intervention. A secondary aim was to identify the impact of the education and implementation program on pressure injury (PI), skin tear (ST) and incontinence associated dermatitis (IAD) prevalence and incidence rates in the ICU. Methods: A prospective quality improvement project based on the plan-study-do-act methodology included three phases: 1. Pre-Intervention Data Collection (December 2020) - Wound Prevalence Survey (full body skin inspection) & Staff Knowledge Quiz 2. Intervention Phase -- Staff Education, Evidence Based Protocol Implementation & Evidence based products available in units 3. Post-Intervention Data Collection - Wound Prevalence Survey (full body skin inspection) & Staff Knowledge Quiz Results: Pre-intervention data demonstrated two thirds of ICU patients had one or more wound. ICU Pressure Injury prevalence was 37.5%, IAD prevalence 12.5% and ST prevalence was 4%. ICU PI incidence reporting rate was 11%. Device Related PI rate was 56% of all PIs identified. Staff knowledge about wound prevention averaged 50%. Conclusions: As a result of the Covid-19 surge, post implementation data will be collected in May 2022 and the data will be presented as comparative outcomes.