Perioperative Risk Assessment for Skin Injury

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries create a tremendous cost to health care organizations and negatively affect quality and patient safety. Surgical patients are at an increased risk for skin injury, particularly a pressure injury, because of a lack of sensation and immobility during a procedure. An interprofessional team at our facility identified factors that place surgical patients at risk for skin injury. We developed a risk assessment protocol in March 2021 using the Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) method. After data review and analysis, we identified age of 65 years or older, existence of a skin condition, and procedural duration greater than four hours as significant predictors for postoperative skin injury. Our findings reinforce the benefit of using an appropriate risk assessment protocol that alerts the perioperative team members to at-risk patients.