Did you know? On any given day one in four people in Canadian health-care settings have a pressure injury, despite up to 70 per cent of pressure injuries being preventable?
(Woodbury and Houghton, 2004).
Pressure injuries can extend a hospital stay by four to 11 days (Leaf Healthcare, 2016).
What is a pressure injury?
A pressure injury is a wound caused by... you guessed it: pressure! Pressure reduces or stops blood flow to an area, causing the skin and underlying tissues to break down and a wound to occur. In some cases the wound can go right to the bone. Pressure injuries are common over areas where the bone is close to the surface, such as at the base of the spine, on the hips and over the ankles or other vulnerable areas such as ears. If pressure is on the area for too long the skin and tissue in that area die. The result is a pressure injury.
Join us!
Wounds Canada is pleased join the global campaign to prevent pressure injuries and participate in STOP Pressure Injury Day held annually on the third Thursday in November. This year STOP Pressure Injury Day, also known as Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day, will take place on Thursday November 21, 2024. Led by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), the objective of World Wide Pressure Injury Prevention Day is to increase awareness about pressure injury prevention and to provide education to the public on this topic.
Wounds Canada is excited to present the second webinar in the Grand Rounds series Shifting the Pressure: A Time for System Change in Pressure Injury Protocols. This free event to mark Worldwide Pressure Injury Awareness Day will be held on Thursday, November 21st from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. EST with moderators Stephanie Chadwick and Dr. David Wallace.
The inter-disciplinary panel will discuss two complex case studies:
- a person living with an infected pressure injury who is awaiting surgery and
- a person who has had surgery with complications where the pressure injury became infected
Join us to hear these unique perspectives and submit your questions for the expert panel to address.
What can you do to raise awareness for STOP Pressure Injury Day?
Get involved!
- Follow Wounds Canada on social media, and amplify our message and important prevention resources from now until Stop Pressure Injury Day on November 21, 2024.
- Use hashtags #StopPressureInjuries and #WoundsCanada2024 to post your own awareness message and join the global conversation on pressure injury prevention.
- Share your pressure injury story as a patient, caregiver or health-care provider on social media and through our online submission portals: Patient/Caregiver Stories and Health-care Provider Stories.
- Make a statement by recording a short video explaining what you're doing as a health-care provider, patient, caregiver, policy maker or concerned person to help prevent pressure injuries.
- Attend Wounds Canada’s Pressure Injury Webinar on November 21st. This is a free one-day virtual education event coinciding with Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day.
Learn more and share!
- Access and share helpful and informative resources on pressure injuries and prevention:
- Wounds Canada resources:
- Best Practice Recommendations (BPR) (Chapter 3: Prevention and Management of Pressure Injuries)
- BPR Briefs on pressure injuries
- Care at Home Series ‘Preventing and Managing Pressure Injuries’
- SSKIN Bundle
- DIY Series on pressure injuries
- Pressure Injuries: The Problem and the Solution
- Wound Care Canada magazine
- Patient and caregiver stories series: Our Voices, Our Stories
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- Wounds Canada Institute programs:
- Awareness campaign collaborator resources on presssure injuries:
- National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) resources, posters, educational fact sheets and more.
- Health Association Nova Scotia (HANS) Provincial Wound Program: including Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT)
- Covenant Health: Your role in safe care
- RNAO: Pressure Injury Prevention and Treatment in the Context of Resident-Centred Care video, Clinical Best Practice Guidelines: Assessment and Management of Presure Injuries for the Interprofessional Team and, Nursing Best Practice Guideline, Evidence Booster and Clinical Pathways
- Stay tuned for more from our collaborators!
- Wounds Canada resources:
We can’t do this alone; your support can make a difference in wound care in Canada.
Please donate to Wounds Canada today to support our journey toward a common goal:
patients, families and health-care teams working hand in hand to better prevent and care for wounds.