Overview:

A practical awareness course designed to help care staff recognise pressure ulcer risks, support prevention and understand their role in reporting and escalating skin integrity concerns.

Full Description:

Pressure ulcers can cause pain, infection, distress, reduced mobility, hospital admission and serious harm. Care staff play an important role in prevention by noticing risk factors, supporting repositioning, encouraging hydration and nutrition, reporting skin changes, following care plans and escalating concerns promptly. This course provides non-nursing care staff with practical awareness of pressure ulcer prevention and basic wound care responsibilities within their role. It does not train staff to diagnose wounds, carry out clinical wound assessment or provide nursing-level treatment. The focus is on prevention, observation, recording, reporting, escalation and supporting safe care plans.

Course Aim:

To improve delegates’ awareness of pressure ulcer prevention and their non-nursing role in recognising, reporting and escalating skin integrity concerns.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain what pressure ulcers are and why they are a serious care concern.
• Identify common risk factors for pressure damage.
• Recognise early warning signs and changes in skin condition.
• Understand the importance of repositioning, mobility, nutrition, hydration and continence care.
• Support prevention in line with care plans and professional guidance.
• Understand basic wound care boundaries at a non-nursing level.
• Record and report concerns clearly.
• Escalate changes or deterioration promptly to appropriate professionals.

Mapping / How it supports:

Supports safer care, risk reduction, skin integrity monitoring, care planning, documentation, safeguarding awareness, infection prevention and timely escalation of concerns. Source grounding includes NICE CG179: Pressure ulcers: prevention and management and CQC Regulation 12 guidance on risk assessment, competence and safe care.