Clinical Resources

In addition to the resources listed below, there are also ideas and links available on the national website. Please let us know how you are using these tools in your nursing home. If you know of a particularly helpful resource that isn't shown here, tell us and we'll do our best to add it to the campaign's collection.

Pressure Ulcers

Quality Improvement

Getting Started Kit: Identify Areas for Improvement
Analyze your current practices, identify areas for improvement, and get examples of practical, high-impact interventions.

Fast Facts
Assess your knowledge about key processes of care related to pressure ulcer screening, prevention, evaluation, and treatment.

Borun Center Pressure Ulcer Prevention module
Nurses can earn 2.0 CEUs for completion of this free online learning module.

The national campaign has developed an Implementation Guidebook to assist nursing homes in reducing pressure ulcer prevalence among high-risk residents.

Guidelines

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

AHCPR Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians #3. Pressure Ulcers in Adults: Prediction and Prevention

AHCPR Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians #15. Treatment of Pressure Ulcers

(Note: Navigate through the AHCPR guides by using the navigation menu on the left side of the NCBI website.) Contact the AHCPR at 800-358-9295 to order printed copies of either guide.

American Medical Directors Association
Clinical practice guidelines, such as Pressure Ulcer Therapy Companion and Pressure Ulcers, may be ordered directly from AMDA.

National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP)

NPUAP Updated Pressure Ulcer Staging

NPUAP Support Surface Standards Initiative: Terms and Definitions

Quality Measures

Use this summary to identify the MDS elements that impact your score for the high-risk pressure ulcer quality measure (12.1).

Your organization's pressure ulcer measures are published at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare website.

Physical Restraints

Quality Improvement

The national campaign has developed an Implementation Guidebook to assist nursing homes in establishing procedures to reduce the use of physical restraints.

Guidelines

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Review CMS' restraint-related policies and coding recommendations, as well as suggestions for restraint alternatives and ideas for turning your nursing home into a restraint-free environment, in a three-part broadcast. Registration is required to view these sessions. More details and instructions about the broadcasts.

In addition, get clarification about CMS definitions regarding the proper identification and coding of restraint use in this two-page memo dated 6/22/07.

Pain Management

Quality Improvement

Getting Started Kit: Identify Areas for Improvement (Updated 4/13/07)
Analyze your current practices, identify areas for improvement, and get examples of practical, high-impact interventions.

Fast Facts
Assess your knowledge about key processes of care related to pain assessment, treatment, and evaluation.

Pain Screening training module (available in online and printable versions)
Start the pain management process off right—by accurately assessing its presence and severity. This module was developed at the Borun Center, a joint venture between the UCLA School of Medicine and the Jewish Home for the Aging of Greater Los Angeles.

Pain Assessment Terminology
Ensure consistent pain documentation and assessment by using these defined terms throughout your organization.

The national campaign has developed an Implementation Guidebook to assist nursing homes in managing residents' pain.

Guidelines

University of Iowa Nursing School

Among the many elder-care guidelines available for purchase from the university are Acute Pain Management in the Elderly (83 pages, with a separate Quick Reference Guide) and Persistent Pain Management (56 pages). Note: The Persistent Pain Management guideline is also summarized online.

American Geriatrics Socieity

The Management of Persistent Pain in Older Persons

American Medical Directors Association
Clinical practice guidelines, such as Pain Management in the Long Term Care Setting, may be ordered directly from AMDA.

Quality Measures

Use this summary to identify the MDS elements that impact your score for the long-term resident pain measure (8.1). Note: the pain measure for short-term residents (13.2) can be summarized in the same way, except that Exclusion #1 does not apply.

Your organization's pain management scores for both long-term and short-term residents are published at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare website.