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Pressure Ulcer Awareness Program FAQs
1. What is the role of the Site Champion and how much time will it take?
The Site Champion is the driver of the PUAP in each facility. It will be his/her job to put in place all the requirements necessary for the successful implementation and maintenance of every program component. Duties will include planning (e.g., organizing program kick-off and co-ordinating educational events), education (e.g., either conducting or co-ordinating formal educational sessions, ensuring other education is carried out), and mentoring (e.g., ensuring clinical staff are aware of and comfortable with new policies and procedures such as high-risk rounds and new admission process). It is highly recommended that the Site Champion have a commitment to best practice in wound care prevention and management.
Time commitment: During the early days of program implementation, the Champion will need to spend time getting to know the program and its objectives. After the initial orientation period, the ongoing activities can be broken down as follows. Note: these are only a guide and may vary widely depending on the type of facility, the expertise of the Champion, and the requirements of staff and patients.
- Orientation session with PUAP Team Leader: This session, which is conducted via conference call will be a minimum of one 3-hour session.
- Planning: 2 – 4 hrs per week - includes booking rooms for education, copying of materials, setting up team rounds.
- Implementing: Staff education: 8 - 12 hours / week - includes providing initial educational activities during first 2 months of program. Once initial education with staff completed, 2 hours / month will be required to host education sessions as part of a new staff orientation program. Patient education: one on one completed by staff nurse on admission. Pressure Ulcer Prevention Class - ½ to 1 hour a week.
- Mentoring: Full-time availability - related to supporting and encouraging high-risk rounds, new admission procedure and care reviews
- Cohort participation: 2 - 4 hrs per month - receives support within a cohort group led by a Team Leader supplied by the CAWC - includes regular conference calls, participation in a discussion forum and access to Hotline
2. Is there any training for the Site Champion?
Yes, each Site Champion will receive a ½ day orientation with the following objectives:
- Introduce Champions within each cohort to each other and to the Team Leader and other members of the support team
- Gain overview of how the program works
- Discuss how to perform a yearly prevalence and incidence
- Review adult learning principles relating to planning, implementing and evaluating educational programs
- Identify change initiatives to support a culture shift
- Discuss bridges and barriers to successful implementation of the program within the facility
3. What are the attributes of a successful Site Champion?
The Site Champion is an individual with knowledge and skill relating to pressure ulcer management and is employed (full or part-time) in a related position within the facility (e.g., wound-care nurse). A Site Champion will be successful if he/she is recognized within the facility as a leader and can effectively communicate with management, staff and patients and their families. Site Champions should have excellent organizational skills and be highly motivated and enthusiastic about the program.
4. Ours is a large facility. How many Site Champions will we need?
One Site Champion is needed for every 200 to 250 patients, residents or clients, maximum. Facilities that implement the program must commit to having no more than 250 beds per Champion. To increase success, we recommend that facilities assign assistants to the Champion as well. The benefits of this strategy include enhanced teamwork and an easier succession if a Champion leaves the job.
5. We have multiple facilities under one administrative umbrella. How much will we have to pay?
The Facility Questionnaire you filled out will help us determine the pricing structure for your facilities. Each type of facility has different materials requirements, for example, or more than one Champion, so the annual price will take those differences into account.
6. How often will the program be reviewed and revised?
Our team of experts will review and revise the program annually. The review and revisions will be based on a number of factors, including feedback from the Site Champions and Team Leaders, changes in best practice, prevalence trends in participating facilities, policy changes in health regions or provinces. If new materials are required, they will be sent to facilities during the next ordering cycle.
7. What is a “cohort”?
Each Site Champion will be assigned to a cohort. Cohorts will contain about 10 members each. Each cohort will be made up of facilities that are in a similar stage of implementation and may share other characteristics. The cohort is a way that Site Champions can participate in ongoing group discussion and receive support from other Site Champions and the Team Leader. Active participation in cohort activities is one of the requirements a facility must fulfill in order to receive a PUAP accreditation certificate.
8. What is the accreditation certificate?
Facilities that fulfill the requirements of the program will be eligible to receive a certificate to hang in a prominent place. A label will be given annually to successful facilities to add to their certificates. It is hoped the certificate will become widely recognized by accrediting bodies, clinicians, patients and their families as an indicator of quality care. To fulfill the requirements of the program, each facility must demonstrate it has implemented the PUAP with full management support for policy and practice change and the Site Champion has participated in all required activities. The specifics of the requirement are contained in the Champion Handbook.
9. Who else needs to be involved in the program?
The PUAP is unique in that everyone in the facility has a role to play and should be involved. All clinicians, including RNs, LPNs/RNAs, and unregulated staff, need to have the knowledge and skills to recognize when someone is at risk for pressure ulcers and to know what to do to prevent them. Patients and their families and other caregivers are an important, and often overlooked, part of prevention too. Their involvement is built right into the program. Without the explicit support of managers and other decision-makers, the program will not be successful. Everyone in a management position should be involved as well, by showing support at events, monitoring the success of the program, and being open to making policy and practice changes that will prevent pressure ulcers, thus reducing patient suffering and reducing costs.
10. What kind of support will we get from the CAWC for the program?
For a start, the program itself has the full backing of the CAWC Board of Directors. It was developed by hand-picked experts and tested as a pilot program through 2006 in facilities across Canada. The full resources of the CAWC continue to be behind the program.
As well, each facility will have access to a Team Leader, who has been hired by the CAWC to oversee integration, implementation and evaluation of the program in the facilities. The Team Leader is a highly qualified wound-care expert, with extensive clinical experience and a deep understanding of the PUAP. The Team Leader will run the conference calls, moderate the discussion forum and answer the PUAP hotline. As an expert, the Team Leader will be able to answer questions quickly. The Team Leader will ensure Champion feedback gets to the decision-makers at the CAWC so revisions can be carried out effectively and problems can be dealt with swiftly.
A Web site containing information on preventing pressure ulcers is available to everyone. This means facilities can direct their staff and patients and their families to the site for more information and useful links. It will also be a place where participating facilities will have access to a password-protected area. The discussion forum will be in this area, meaning no outsiders will have access, leaving Champions to freely discuss issues that concern them. This area will also contain downloadable materials, making the distribution of new, additional or revised materials easy and quick.
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