Yap's Research Featured in McKnight's Long-Term Care News Article
Tracey Yap, associate professor, recently published a journal article entitled "Pressure Injury Prevention Outcomes and Challenges to Use of Resident Monitoring Technology in a Nursing Home" in the Journal of Wound Ostomy & Continence Nursing (JWOCN). Her research from the journal article was featured in a news article entitled "Study: Monitors lead to better turning practices" published by McKnight's Long-Term Care News.
Visual monitors that cued staff to reposition nursing home residents every two hours led to more frequent turning in a study of a 120-bed nursing home.
Researchers at Duke University and other schools in North Carolina found use of the patient-monitoring system brought the facility closer to compliance with recommended two-hour turn rate, which could help prevent pressure ulcers.
Over an 18-day period, 44 residents were tracked by a sensor placed on their chests. If they hadn’t been repositioned for more than two hours, an LCD screen at a nurses station would turn red. As the need for a turn approached, a nurse would get a yellow warning. Otherwise, patients remained in the green. Self-positioning automatically reset the program.
On average, repositioning compliance was at 61.4% before the intervention started. During the study period, it averaged 81.5%, and the most significant improvements came during the overnight shift.
Residents with no risk or a severe risk of developing a pressure injury were excluded from the study.
The research team was led by Tracey Yap, Ph.D., RN, WCC, associate professor at Duke University School of Nursing.