Informative Article The informative article A United Approach to the Prevention of Pressure Ulcers informs the reader, step by step, as to what a pressure ulcer is, which patients may be prone towards a pressure ulcer, how to prevent a pressure ulcer, what to do if after steps taken towards prevention the patients gets a pressure ulcer anyway, treatment of an ulcer and finally what dressings are effective after treatment (Gray and Hampton, 2015). The key points of the article are that pressure ulcers (PUs) are preventable, but incidences of pressure ulcers continue to increase, patients with pressure ulcers die two to six times more than a patient without pressure ulcers, and pressure ulcers are preventable with proper care, such as utilizing the correct mattress and making sure turns are done faithfully. The article goes further and concludes that there are many methods that support pressure ulcer prevention and, with good training—knowledge of what a pressure ulcer is, how it occurs and how to prevent pressure ulcers there can be a reduction in pressure injuries overall. This article was subject to double blind peer review. Criteria Secondary source articles are usually based on articles that are primary sources, or in other words, research articles (which are primary) where the information can be new or groundbreaking. When an informative or secondary article is written the authors may use the research articles as primary sources of information used. When an informative article is written the reference page would cite research articles. Informative articles provide information on a topic and can be specific or general in nature, may refer to research studies (but not always) and common language is usually used so the subject is easily understood. In this informative article there is specific information related to pressure ulcers, and the language used throughout is common and probably on a sixth grade level, therefore easily understood. Also there are numerous references to the actual research on the subject of pressure ulcers: “Also, in a study by Lyder et al (2002), implementation of a comprehensive prevention program resulted in an 87% decrease in pressure ulcer incidence”. (Gray and Hampton, 2015 p. 2). One of the ways of identifying an informative article is that the article may refer to and/or depend on research based studies. In the sciences, journal articles written by experimenters reporting the results of their research are primary documents. This informative article also uses easily understood language throughout, such as this definition of pressure: “Pressure is where the weight of the body squeezes the tissues between a bony prominence (such as heel, elbow, sacrum or ischials etc.) and a hard surface (such as bed, chair or, in the case of heels, the floor)” (Gray and Hampton, 2015, p. 3). Research Article The purpose of the research article Reducing Pressure Injuries in Critically ill Patients by Using a Patient Skin Integrity Care Bundle (InSpire) was to test an interventional protocol called InSpire, which was developed and tested in an Australian intensive care unit (ICU). The study was conducted over a 12 month period and used patients admitted to the ICU, expected to stay more than 24 hours, who were over 18 years of age. The research used a before and after design: patients receiving the intervention (InSPiRE protocol) were compared with a similar control group who received standard care. The intervention, InSPiRE, is a bundle of processes for preventing pressure injuries by targeting key areas of nursing clinical assessment and documentation, hygiene measures, repositioning, and strategies for preventing pressure injuries in critically ill patients in the ICU. It was based on the best available evidence. The demographics were similar in both groups and the intervention group, receiving the InSPiRE protocol, ended with a lesser prevalence of pressure injuries, and a reduced amount of pressure ulcers that developed over time. The conclusion of this article was that constant assessment of the patient’s skin and risk for pressure injuries as well as putting into place specific prevention measures are crucial to preventing pressure injuries (Coyer, Gardner, Doubrovsky, Cole, Ryan Allen. & McNamara). Criteria This research article meets all the criteria for a primary source of information. The headings are typical for research, i.e. ethical considerations, participants, sample, data analysis, hypotheses, conclusions, and included statistics and tables. Both of these articles were peer reviewed and both included the definition of a pressure ulcers, but the informative article continued with the teaching aspect and the research article led with the definition and then showed the research parameters and results. Both articles were informative but the research article broke new ground by testing hypotheses and the informative article used evidence based practice to entreat the reader.

References

Coyer, F., Gardner, A., Doubrovsky, A., Cole, R., Ryan, F. M., Allen, C., & McNamara, G. Reducing pressure injuries in critically ill patients by using a patient skin integrity care bundle (InSpire). American Journal of Critical Care, 24(3), 199-210, doi:10.4037/ajcc 2015930.
Gray, S., & Hampton, S. (2015). A united approach to the prevention of pressure ulcers. Nursing & Residential Care, 17(3), 137-142.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2014). Nursing research (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.