Background Pressure ulcers is a skin wound, which is commonly occurring within health services, with the severity of wounds varying. There are many effective measures regarding pressure ulcers that are needed to avoid unnecessary suffering and healthcare-related injuries.Therefore, nurses need to improve the prevention and control of pressure ulcers through increased understanding of the wound healing process, through preventative measures and nutritional treatments.
Aim The aim is to investigate the effectiveness of good nutrition in healing pressure ulcers. A secondary aim is to measure the connection between nutrition and pressure ulcers.
Method A review that answers the aim through a compilation of scientific articles. The databases CINAHL and PubMed were used to search for articles. The result is based on 17 relevant articles. Almost all articles analyzed were quantitative, one was qualitative with strong quantitative traits.
Results The reviews resulted in five subheadings: The use of risk assessment instruments, The effects on the body’s biochemical measures, The effect of the type of nutritional intake: Peroral, enteral and parentral, Nutrition improving wound healing and The connection between malnutrition and pressure ulcers. The result of this review shows that good nutrition is an important factor in preventing pressure ulcers but also shows that nutrition cannot on its own heal wounds.
Conclusions Nutritional interventions have an important role in the healing of pressure ulcers. In particular, the importance of avoiding malnutrition is highlighted, which is not only a riskfactor but also gives negative health effects for patients. Finally, the results are showing that a holistic view with many aspects is needed to treat pressure ulcers. To determine the exact effects of nutrition on pressure ulcers, more research is needed.