Bed sores in elderly patients could be significantly reduced with a small change in patient repositioning practices, research funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) has found.

Zena Moore, a HRB Research Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and a nurse, found that changing conventional repositioning practices could also provide significant savings and efficiencies in the delivery of care.

“The new method we introduced uses a 30 degree tilt rather than 90 degree rotations.

“It resulted in a four-fold reduction in the incidence of pressure ulcers, so it is clearly better for patients. But it is also less time consuming, requires less nursing staff and it is more cost effective when compared with standard care,” said Moore.

The potential savings across the HSE as a result of this change in practice would be enormous, she maintained.

“Our nursing research estimates show that the new method could save over €250,000 through a reduction in staffing costs and wound dressing costs alone. This is based solely on the number of patients who would require repositioning in the 12 hospitals, which participated in our research. If you extended this out across the HSE it could introduce significant savings and efficiencies.”

Moore is President of the European Wound Management Association. The findings will be presented at the Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel annual meeting, which takes place in Amsterdam from September 3 to 5.

She said she is determined that the findings be implemented. “A key focus of my presidency will be to make sure that the nursing profession in Ireland and worldwide adopts these new techniques as standard practice.”