Pressure ulcer prevention in hospitals: a successful nurse-led clinical quality improvement intervention.

A pressure ulcer prevalence of 17.3% at Odense University Hospital in Denmark in 2010 prompted action and a quality improvement project was planned. This had two aims: to reduce pressure ulcers at the hospital by 50% and to have no pressure ulcers at or above category 3. An project was established with a steering committee, a pressure ulcer specialist nurse, local dedicated nurses and nurse assistants to implement a pressure ulcer bundle in clinical practice at all departments at the hospital. Six years later the pressure ulcer prevalence was down to approximately 2% and in 2018 only one stage 3 pressure ulcer occurred in the hospital. Pressure ulcer prevention is now incorporated into clinical practice in all departments at the hospital.