Fake wounds help nurses raise pressure ulcer awareness

Nurses hoping to reduce the rate of pressure ulcers in their hospitals are using a mannequin and self-made fake wounds to help teach colleagues about spotting and treating tissue damage in their patients.

The training has been led by the clinical nurse educator, simulation and tissue viability teams at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, which work together under the NHS Humber Health Partnership.

Members of the teams have toured wards at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital with a model of a bottom covered with fake pressure ulcers.

Kirsty Stephenson, a nursing simulation fellow based in the clinical skills building at Hull Royal Infirmary, said: “People learn in different ways and seeing what an ulcer actually looks like rather than a photograph in a textbook can help staff identify exactly what they’re looking for in patients.”

Angie Oswald, lead nurse for tissue viability, based at Hull Royal Infirmary, said the clinical simulation exercise had been invaluable in her team’s work to reduce the number of pressure ulcers in patients at both hospitals.

She said: “Clinical simulation is a fantastic teaching tool and offers clinical staff the chance to learn in a safe environment.

“Using the mannequins and the moulage helps them familiarise themselves with what they should be looking for if a patient does develop a pressure ulcer and what steps they can take to stop it getting worse.”

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Source: Nursing Times, 17 January 2025