Editorial

Pressure Ulcers – Sharing Expertise to Learn about Challenges and Opportunities for Success

Pressure ulcers are a serious and still far too common complication for patients admitted to hospitals, nursing homes and those residing in community care. In many countries, pressure ulcers are recognized as one of the most important sentinel events for healthcare. International guidelines have been developed in 2014 to act as a public resource for summaries of evidence-based clinical practice recommendations. The development of the 2019 guideline has started and is ongoing.

The development of global guidelines, ensuring the appropriate use of evidence, represents one of the core functions of organizations such as the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP). National organizations are responsible for translating the recommendations from international guidelines to impact upon health policies and clinical practice at a more national and regional level. Education, training and sharing expertise play an integral role in securing good outcomes for patients and their carers. The aim of conferences is to listen, interact and learn from all different processes clinicians in different roles pursue to apply recommendations from guidelines unique to the care they deliver. A conference must create an atmosphere of learning about challenges and opportunities for success.

I would like to sincerely thank and congratulate assoc. prof. Andrea Pokorná and her team for their outstanding efforts in introducing the focus for pressure ulcer prevention at a national level, and therefore assuming the Czech Republic’s responsibility for implementing the guidelines leading to better outcomes for patients, their family, carers and society.

Introducing guidelines and the best possible care for our patients are certainly challenging. We are all struggling with it. But I am sure that you will have the opportunity during this conference to hear about the expertise and experiences from renowned national and international experts on their achievements. They certainly will present some challenges ahead for you and your colleagues. On behalf of EPUAP, I wish you all a fruitful conference and a nice time in Brno. EPUAP is there to continuously support you in your efforts to increase you skills and understanding in reducing the pressure ulcer problem in Europe.

prof. dr. Dimitri Beeckman, RN, MSc, PhD

University Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Skin Integrity Research Group (SKINT),

Ghent University,

Belgium

Chair of the EPUAP Scientific Committee

Sestavovatel Supplementa doc. PhDr. Andrea Pokorná, Ph.D. děkuje všem níže jmenovaným recenzentům za jejich čas při anonymním recenzním řízení, zejména za konstruktivní a relevantní komentáře a doporučení autorům, které přispěly ke zlepšení kvality jednotlivých příspěvků.

Recenzenti:

doc. MUDr. Marek Baláž, Ph.D.

doc. PhDr. Lada Cetlová, Ph.D.

Mgr. Dana Dolanová, Ph.D.

PhDr. Simona Saibertová

PhDr. Lada Nováková