Student name

Capella University

NURS-FPX8006 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

Professor Name

Submission Date

Forming an Innovative Healthcare Team to Promote a New Approach to a Current and Ongoing Healthcare Issue

The practice of developing creative healthcare teams is still urgent to address the current healthcare problems by means of multidisciplinary expertise and creative problem-solving methods. The interprofessional workforce brings together the clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, quality improvement experts, and patient advocates to create multifaceted prevention regimes (Sigmon et al., 2022). These teams promote innovation in their thinking, combining the different areas of knowledge and removing department barriers in the past. When the various professional lenses refute the traditional ways of preventing falls and produce new evidence-based interventions, innovation will occur. The collaborative efforts eventually result in a more comprehensive, patient-centered care that is capable of transforming the healthcare delivery and improving the safety outcomes. The major aim of the assessment is to focus on the problem of pressure ulcers in the healthcare facilities using the new healthcare team model.

Healthcare Issue

Pressure ulcers are one of the common medical issues that impact susceptible groups of patients in a wide range of clinical facilities. In the United States, more than 2.5 million people receive pressure ulcers every year (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2024). The injuries occur due to the prolonged stress on the skin and the tissues under the skin that restrict blood flow in the injured areas, destroying cells and causing corrosion of the tissues in the location above the bones. The side effects of pressure ulcers include the presence of excruciating pain, increased vulnerability to other severe infections, prolonged hospitalization, and high expenses of medical services associated with treatment procedures (Zaidi and Sharma, 2024). The complications can lead to the fact that the patient is immobile, his/her quality of life decreases, and, in the worst case, the systemic infection can become life-threatening, including sepsis or osteomyelitis (Howell et al., 2021). Management of pressure ulcers is a complex issue that should be addressed through the multidimensional health and health care impacts.

Roles and Perspectives

Pressure ulcers are a significant problem in healthcare that can be resolved successfully with the help of interprofessional intervention to achieve optimal patient outcomes. The injuries are formed due to the damage of blood circulation to the vulnerable parts of the tissue by the sustained pressure that involves massive prevention and treatment measures. The evidence-based practices have demonstrated, regarding nursing, that repositioning patients after every two-hour duration and special support surfaces may significantly decrease the occurrence of ulcers (Andayani et al., 2020). Physical therapists can assist via the introduction of body mobilization and perfusion programs to increase the degree of circulation and tissue perfusion and teach the patients proper positioning (Ernstmeyer and Christman, 2021).

The registered dietitians address the issue through the use of evidence-based nutritional interventions that ensure adequate protein intake and hydration levels, delivering sufficient integrity of the tissues and recovery of the wounds. Doctors manage the joint operation by prescribing the correct wound care type and controlling the underlying pathologies, such as diabetes, that disturb the healing process (Spampinato et al., 2020). An interprofessional method integrates the knowledge that the individual providers possess and creates a holistic care plan that is centered on prevention and treatment. Effective prevention of pressure ulcers later involves a harmonious integration of multiple medical practitioners, who work towards the attainment of shared patient-related goals.

Critical Appraisal of Studies

The research studies should be reviewed systematically so that the methodological rigor and clinical use of the research studies in healthcare practice can be evaluated. The negative-pressure wound care, as compared to wet-dry dressing, with respect to the stage three and four pressure injuries, was the subject of the randomized controlled trial study by Şahin et al. (2022) that used the right quantitative techniques. The methodology allowed the researchers to demonstrate strength as the participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (thirty individuals in each group), as this gave comparability between the two groups. The instruments of measurement in the research were validated instruments like the Pressure Ulcer Scale of Healing tool and a three-dimensional wound measurement device, which enhanced measurement reliability and objectivity.

To obtain the level of significance, the relevant statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software in the form of t-tests and correlation tests. However, the small sample size significantly impaired the outcomes, reducing the statistical power and the generalization to a large population. The study did not elaborate on randomization sequence generation and allocation concealment procedures that can produce selection bias. The articulation of outcome assessor blinding was not clear and might have influenced the subjective assessment of the wound. The short time spent on treatment in three cycles did not leave many insights into the healing process in the long-term and its potential complications.

The validation and applicability of the factual evidence of quantitative research are in the comprehensive critical appraisal. To establish credibility and reliability of the findings in the medical context, the qualitative research should be critically evaluated. The study by Lindhardt et al. (2020) is a qualitative descriptive study aimed at studying the experiences and perceptions of geriatric nurses in relation to the preventive measures of pressure ulcers based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Methodology transparency was also taken care of by the researchers since they described clearly the six-phase analytic framework that was developed by Braun and Clarke, which made the study more dependable and audit-worthy.

The fact that the data analysis and coding discussion involved different researchers with diverse backgrounds also added credibility to it. Pilot testing was conducted on the interview guide before data collection, and the questions were made more understandable and appropriate to the study population. There was a limited number of respondents (six in one geriatric hospital in Odense University Hospital), which limited the results, however. The transferability of the results was hampered by the fact that the results might not apply to the experiences of nurses in other clinical settings and geographical locations. Each interview took about half an hour, and the time might not be enough to delve into the complexity of the experiences. The researchers established a parallel between the background of the interviewer and the participants in terms of background in nursing, and they are likely to be biased by the same assumptions. Member checking or subject validation of the themes that had been identified during the analysis could have been used to confirm them. Appropriately, in which the qualitative research studies are critically evaluated, the research findings will be precise within the experience and perceptions of the participants.

Outcomes and Solutions

Evidence-based suggestions should be presented with the help of empirical evidence and would help optimize patient care by the medical team, and would reduce the effects of preventable complications in the clinical setting. The interprofessional team recommends two-hour repositioning and a detailed skin examination to help prevent the development of pressure ulcers in susceptible categories of patients (Andayani et al., 2020). The reasons why the recommendation can be justified include the fact that systematic repositioning has become among the most effective interventions to reduce the percentage of pressure ulcers by redistributing the pressure and improving blood circulation to the tissues (Gillespie et al., 2020).

The recommended interventions to be used in the team proposal will be the pressure-redistributing support surfaces and the use of the repositioning schedules to provide the most protective intervention to the high-risk patients. In addition to that, the recommendation also presupposes the mandatory registering of all repositioning procedures and skin assessments in electronic health records as a means of contributing to the accountability and continuity of care (Monfre et al., 2021). It has been revealed that organizations that have systematic prevention strategies in place have a lower rate of pressure ulcers and reduced health expenditures as compared to those that possess non-established standardized prevention strategies (Kandula, 2025). The group highlights the need to engage the nurses, physical therapists, physicians, and dietitians when adopting the prevention strategies with the assistance of shared responsibility and communication. Interprofessional teams should make use of evidence-based recommendations aimed at ensuring a high level of patient safety and quality improvement.

Conclusion

The role of interprofessionals in healthcare innovation is colossal in tackling complex clinical issues in pragmatic and sustainable ways. The multidisciplinary model of pressure ulcer prevention presupposes the cooperation of physical therapists, physicians, dietitians, and nurses who are focused on achieving the same set goals when it comes to patients. The proposals of the standardized procedures of repositioning and skin assessment offered by the interprofessional team can be discussed as valuable solutions in the context of the form of reduction of the rates of pressure ulcer occurrence. Such evidence-based intervention as teamwork eventually results in improved patient outcomes and quality of healthcare in the clinical setting.