Free Nursing Dissertations - This May Be Of Some Practical Value If A Nurse Is On A Ward That Only Has The
This may be of some practical value if a nurse is on a ward that only has the two types of equipment cited but, as a general overview, we need to be able to cite evidence that one particular type or modality of treatment is superior to all others for a particular category of pressure sore and that we can point to unbiased, scientifically derived evidence to support that view.
To illustrate this point, it is clearly of minimal value to a patient to be able to say to them that a comparison of rubbing a pressure sore with honey has been found more beneficial than rubbing it with butter when the use of a ripple mattress is clearly superior to both of them.
It is certainly fair to say that the authors clearly appreciate the shortcomings of their own paper as they conclude with the comment:
Carefully conducted clinical trials are urgently needed to evaluate which products should be used in this all too common and very debilitating condition.. In the absence of carefully conducted clinical studies, the benefit of a variety of available medical treatments is doubtful.
At the time that this paper was written (20 years ago), the comment was certainly true. We can illustrate the evolution and historical perspective on the treatment of pressure sores with the observation that the sum total of the principles of treatment of pressure sores was summed up by the authors in the headings:
Improvement in general health and nutrition
Restoration of tissue perfusion by relief of pressure
Maintaining a clean wound
Preventing or treating infection
Stimulation of granulation tissue
Arterial reconstruction where necessary.
If we move nearer to the present day and examine a rather more recent paper we could turn to Bliss (et al 1999). This is also an overview of the area of pressure sores presented as an editorial. We should also note that one of the authors is a nurse. The tone of the paper is set by the opening comment:
Pressure sores are often thought to be slothful chronic wounds forming slowly because of poor nursing
Which is a quote from another peer reviewed nursing journal (Dealey C 1992).
The fact of the matter is that we are not left in a position to assess the validity of this comment, simply because yet again it is quoting opinion rather than firm, scientifically evaluated evidence. There is, however, a significant difference between this paper and the one we cited from the preceding decade, and that reflects the quality of the references cited. This paper cites only 12 references, and in this instance, over half quote peer reviewed randomised controlled trials as their source. This clearly represents a change in both presentation and ethos.
Dissertations - Free Nursing Dissertations
