Today marks worldwide Stop Pressure Ulcer day. As part of the National Quality Improvement Programme, collaboration is being established for the prevention of pressure ulcers in Ireland. Professor Zena Moore, Associate Professor and Director of Nursing Research, RCSI is on the collaborations steering group.

There is substantial international evidence that a collaborative quality improvement approach can rapidly and significantly reduce the rate of pressure ulcers. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Model on Collaboratives has been selected as a suitable training programme to use in Ireland to help prevent pressure ulcers.

Collaboratives are a widely used healthcare quality improvement approach.

They are a proven method for successfully training a large group of people and maintaining improvements once the training ends. A specific topic is chosen (in this case pressure ulcers) and then appropriate teaching and coaching faculty (such as physicians, nursing, allied health professionals and improvement experts) deliver the training.

A steering group has been established and the collaborative is expected to begin operating in one region in February 2014. Speaking on Stop Pressure Ulcer Day, Professor Zena Moore said: "This pressure ulcer collaborative will enable participants to collect accurate data in relation to pressure ulcers and build the collection process into their daily work. It will also support participating teams in meeting the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare."