From Correct Words to Correct Care: Usage of The Term Pressure Sore Among Turkish Nurses

Aim: Aim of this study is to determine the current situation of the term used for pressure sores among nurse.

Method: This descriptive study was carried out between April 29th-May 30th, 2013 with 166 voluntary nurses who work at diff erent hospitals via using an online survey system with 13 questions for data collecting. Demographic information was collected for descriptive purposes. Closed-ended questions asked to determine the participant’s usage of the term for pressure sores. Multiple-choice questions focused on clinical usage of term between nurses and on the forms they use at hospital.

Results: The mean age of the nurses was 27.71±5.65 years. A hundred-seventeen of the nurses were graduated from bachelor and associate’s degree and 35 (21.1%) were master degree. Also, 45.1% (n=75) of the nurses were working in special hospitals, 28.3%(n=47) in goverment hospitals and 26.5% (n=44) in university and education-research hospitals. While fiftyseven point two percent of the nurses (n=95) were using the term “press sore”, 56.6% (n=94) used the term “decubitus” and 48.2% (n=80) used “bed sore”. Eighty-five of these nurses used “press sore” to make a search about these sores via internet.

Conclusion: To define pressure caused by the deterioration of tissue integrity, using the term “pressure injury” would be appropriate according to standardization and Turkish Language.