Overview
One client-focused quality and safety issue that is pertinent to my future advanced nursing practice role is hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs). Pressure injuries are an important patient-safety concern because they can result from prolonged pressure, friction, or shear and may lead to pain, infection, longer hospital stays, decreased quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. Hospitalized patients who have limited mobility, poor nutrition, impaired sensation, or prolonged bed rest are particularly vulnerable. Research identifies pressure injury prevention as an important nursing responsibility and emphasizes the need for consistent risk assessment, skin assessment, repositioning, nutritional support, and patient education (Kandula, 2025).
Advanced practice nurses can play at least three important roles in addressing HAPIs. First, the APN can serve as a clinical expert by performing comprehensive assessments, identifying patients at increased risk, developing individualized prevention plans, and monitoring patients for early changes in skin integrity. Second, the APN can serve as an educator and patient advocate by teaching patients and families about repositioning, nutrition, skin care, mobility, and other prevention strategies while advocating for appropriate equipment and resources. Patient education is particularly important because nurses may not consistently provide pressure-injury prevention education without adequate resources and guidance (Saleh et al., 2026). Third, the APN can serve as a quality-improvement leader by evaluating pressure-injury rates, identifying gaps in adherence to evidence-based prevention practices, educating staff, and implementing standardized protocols or checklists. Evidence demonstrates that incorporating advanced practice nurses into hospital units can improve adherence to pressure-injury prevention guidelines and decrease pressure-injury prevalence (Kandula, 2025).
This issue is particularly important to my future role as a nurse practitioner because advanced practice nurses have a responsibility to promote patient safety, prevent avoidable complications, and use evidence to improve healthcare outcomes. HAPIs are not simply a wound-care concern; they can reflect gaps in assessment, prevention, communication, staffing, education, and care coordination. As a future NP, I want to use clinical assessment, patient education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and quality-improvement strategies to identify patients at risk and prevent avoidable harm. Addressing HAPIs would allow me to contribute to safer, higher-quality, and more patient-centered care while supporting better outcomes for vulnerable patients.