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 16, 2023. 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.
Join us on November 16, 2023, for Wounds Canada's Pressure Injury Symposium, co-chaired by Dr Alan Rogers and Stephanie Chadwick. This one-day learning event, held virtually, will examine the risks and causes along with the multi-disciplinary comprehensive management of pressure injuries by dietitians, nurses, surgeons, physicians and physiatrists to develop strategies, overcome barriers and improve patient outcomes.
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 16, 2023.
- Use hashtags #StopPressureInjuries and #WoundsCanada2023 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 Symposium on November 16th. Themed Teamwork Reduces Pressure, the symposium is a 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’
- 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.