Guidelines in Practice: Prevention of Perioperative Pressure Injury

Immobility and lack of sensation during perioperative procedures increase the risk of patients developing pressure injuries (PIs). Such injuries can cause pain and result in serious infections, thereby leading to increased health care costs. The recently developed AORN "Guideline for prevention of perioperative pressure injury" provides perioperative nurses and leaders with applicable recommendations for preventing these injuries. In addition to a brief overview of a health care facility's interdisciplinary perioperative PI prevention program, this article discusses a variety of concepts related to PI prevention, including prophylactic materials, intraoperative considerations, hand-over communication, pediatric patient concerns, policies and procedures, quality management, and education. It also provides a pediatric patient-specific scenario that illustrates the implementation of the described recommendations. Perioperative nurses and leaders should review the guideline in its entirety and apply the recommendations to prevent PIs as appropriate for their facility and patient population.