Date of Graduation

Summer 8-14-2026

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Program

MSN project

First Advisor

Dr. Ghada Dunbar

Abstract

Pressure injuries are a major burden in healthcare, particularly in the Emergency Department (ED). Patients can be sedentary for prolonged periods of time and don't always get their skin checked promptly. Patients visiting the ED often have comorbidities and patient-specific medical needs, such as seniors with fragile skin, malnourishment, immobility, etc. At a Southern Los Angeles Hospital, leadership found that there was a need for improvement in this area. Implementing standardized risk assessment methods can help to improve the consistent use of the Braden Scale as a predictive and preventive tool for identifying patients' risk for pressure injuries and promoting earlier interventions as needed. The desire to improve proficiency in recognizing and interpreting the key warning signs led to the development of this quality improvement project to address the gaps and improve clinical practice. Establishing risk assessments early is vital for identification and prevention of all skin complications. Guided by Rogers' Change Model, a voluntary pre-intervention survey was administered to ED nurses to assess familiarity with the Braden Scale, particularly its nutrition, moisture, and activity sub-scores, as well as barriers to completing assessments. Baseline data revealed fair-to-poor familiarity with these sub-scores and identified time constraints and competing clinical priorities as primary barriers to consistent use. These findings informed development of a targeted educational intervention consisting of an educational PowerPoint and unit-based flyers that nurses could use to obtain continuing education for their nursing license renewal. Although time constraints prevented collection of post-intervention survey data, this project supports an education intervention supported by literature and evidence-based practice.

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