Patient/caregiver was educated on causes of pressure ulcer development as follows:
Shearing injury
- This occurs when two surfaces move against each other in opposite directions, especially in wheelchair bound and bedbound individuals.
- Prolonged sitting in wheelchair can lead to sliding down low in the chair. This can result in the tailbone moving down in the chair, but the actual skin over the tail bone might stay in place against the surface of chair, pulling in the opposite direction.
- Shearing injury can happen in bedbound patients, especially when the bed is slightly elevated at the head and the individual slides down in the bed.
Moist skin
- Continuous moisture in individuals with excessive perspiration, fecal incontinence, urinary incontinence, and draining wounds can damage the skin.
- Immobility and bedbound/chair bound status in such individuals can increase the risk for easy skin breakdown and development of pressure ulcers.
