Abstract

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) remain a significant patient safety concern in acute care settings. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to reduce HAPI rates through a multidisciplinary intervention focused on the early identification of high-risk patients and improved adherence to pressure injury prevention practices.

Guided by the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice, this quality improvement project was implemented over eight weeks on one medical-surgical unit at two southeastern U.S. hospitals. Adult patients with Braden scores ≤14 were identified as high risk. Nurses initiated the Pink Paper Initiative (PPI), which included visual bedside reminders, multidisciplinary checklists, wound care order sets, and a visual feedback dashboard to improve communication and staff awareness. Education was provided to nursing staff, rehabilitation services, and providers regarding HAPI prevention and PPI procedures.

Evaluation included comparisons of baseline and post-implementation HAPI rates, as well as anonymous staff surveys on the educational sessions and dashboard effectiveness. Findings support the use of multidisciplinary prevention strategies and early identification interventions to strengthen adherence to evidence-based pressure injury prevention practices.

Author Details

Brandi Symone Paul, DNP, RN has 21 years of nursing experience in cardiology, urology/nephrology, and 17 of the 21 years in behavioral/mental health for children and adolescents. She currently works as an associate degree nursing faculty at a community college since 2022.

Sigma Membership

Kappa

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries, HAPI Prevention, Early Identification, Wound Care Strategies, Pressure Ulcers

Advisor

Lee M. Hardin

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Samford University

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2026-07-07

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download
Click on the above link to access the poster.

Additional Files

Abstract.pdf (165 kB)

Share

COinS