Wound care experts up for national award for second year running

Professor Karen Ousey and Dr John Stephenson are shortlisted for the Journal of Wound Care Awards in the Best Clinical Research category

RESEARCH by the University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP), looking at ways to lessen the risk of patient’s obtaining pressure ulcers when in an intensive care unit, has been shortlisted for a major award.

Entitled EXTREME, the project has been shortlisted in the Best Clinical Research category at the 2018 Journal of Wound Care Awards.  Every year the awards showcase the very best in wound care research and display best practice from around the world.

Collaborating on the research are the University’s Professor of Skin Integrity and Director of the ISIaIP Professor Karen Ousey, Dr John Stephenson, a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Statistics, and experts from Queensland University of Technology and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

The team has investigated the effects of patient acuity and their Body Mass Index and whether these could be used as proxies or early warning signs for the presence of pressure ulcers.  The project also identified factors such as age and temperature as important predictors of pressure ulcer occurrence.

Following the success of the pilot analysis, a larger scale study of over 100 intensive care unit patients is now underway which will aim to fully identify the factors significantly associated with pressure ulcer related measures.

Professor Ousey and Dr Stephenson are no strangers at claiming victory at these awards as they won the same category in 2017 with their project on Surgical Site Infections (SSIs).  Their winning research demonstrated why some patients who underwent spinal surgery were at more of a risk of receiving infections than others.

This year’s award-winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony in London’s Banking Hall on the 2 March.