University Centre forNursing and Midwifery

project

The use of a fully automated pulsating support system (CuroCell® A4 CX20) in pressure ulcer prevention and treatment: a clinical test in 10 Belgian nursing homes

project duration: 14/01/2019 - 15/10/2019

The primary objective was to study pressure ulcer (PU) category II-IV (including suspected deep tissue injury and unstageable PUs) cumulative incidence and PU category III-IV wound evolution in the sacral area (including sacrum, ischium and ilium) of nursing home residents in a 30-day observation period, associated with the use of the fully automated pulsating support system Curocell® A4 CX20.

Summary

The second objective was to study the perceived experiences and perceptions of comfort (including pain) of the participants by the caregivers and family. A multicenter cohort study was performed in a convenience sample of 10 Belgian nursing homes between February and October 2019, including a total of 40 nursing home residents.

promotor

Prof. dr. Dimitri Beeckman
Prof. dr. Dimitri Beeckman

Prof. dr. Dimitri Beeckman holds a BSc. in Nursing, an MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery, an MSc. in Education, and a PhD from Ghent University in Belgium. His doctoral thesis focused on pressure ulcer prevention and management of Incontinence- Associated Dermatitis (IAD). In 2010, he became a lecturer at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s College London in the UK. Currently, he works as a Professor of Skin Integrity and Clinical Nursing at the University Centre of Nursing and Midwifery at Ghent University in Belgium. He is a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey (Guilford, UK) and at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland). Prof. Beeckman is Executive Board Member of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and serves as Chair of the Scientific Committee since 2013. He also co- chairs the EPUAP Education Workstream. In 2016, he was a member of the International Scientific Committee of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies Conference. In March 2017, he chaired the 1st European Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Management Masterclass in Ghent. He is specialized in skin integrity research, clinical trials, healthcare education, implementation science and instrument development and validation. In 2013-2014, he authored the Belgian guidelines for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment (supported by the Belgian Healthcare Knowledge Centre, KCE). In 2015, he authored the International Best Practice Document about prevention and management of Incontinence- Associated Dermatitis, published by Wounds International. He acts as policy advisor of the Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety, and Environment. He authored and co- authored over 80 scientific publications in international peer- reviewed journals. He presented his research in > 50 countries all over the world. He is Consulting Editor of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, the Journal of Tissue Viability, as well as Associate Editor of BMC Geriatrics. Prof. Beeckman holds different Fellowships such as Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and the European Academy of Nursing Science.

staff members

Nele Van Damme
Nele Van Damme

Nele Van Damme (MSc, RN) is a PhD student at the University Centre of Nursing and Midwifery. She holds a BSc. in Biotechnology, a BSc. in Nursing (with a supplementary education in Intensive Care and Emergencies), and a MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery. Her PhD focuses on the prevention of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD), and more specifically on a Cochrane systematic review, the identification of IAD risk factors in nursing home residents and critically ill patients, the development and validation of instruments measuring nurses’ knowledge and attitudes towards IAD prevention, and the identification of histopathological differences between IAD and pressure ulcers.

Elien Zwaenepoel
Elien Zwaenepoel

Elien Zwaenepoel is a researcher at the University Centre for Nursing and Midwifery at Ghent University in Belgium. Elien holds a BSc. in Nursing (2015) and a MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery (2017). Elien worked as a community care nurse. Her research focuses on the use of a static air mattress as a preventive measure of pressure ulcer development.

Bénédicte Manderlier
Bénédicte Manderlier

Bénédicte Manderlier is a researcher at the University Centre for Nursing and Midwifery at Ghent University in Belgium. She holds a BSc. in Nursing and a MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery. Her research focuses on the prevention of pressure ulcers. Bénédicte has work experience as a nurse on a geriatric ward and a pediatric intensive care.