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Sammanfattning

Patients, including those not at special risk, are suffering pressure ulcers - despite a significant focus on prevention. To investigate whether areas of care have been overlooked an ethnographic fieldwork study was performed involving passive participant observation on an orthopaedic surgical ward in a Danish university hospital. The study involves a phenomenological approach. The study results state that: 1."healthy patients" and "pressure-relieving mattresses" are symbols of false security for care personnel; 2.pressure ulcers are reported as "red marks"; 3.the rhetoric in cooperation between patients and health care staff is characterised by both "therapeutic clarity" and "narrow-minded ambiguity", 4.and that friendliness and a welcoming approach give patients the courage to seek advice. The results show, that it is important to remember the fundamentals of nursing in day-to-day practice, and that all patients should be considered at potential risk of pressure ulcer. Hereafter patients should be viewed professionally and health care personnel should use reflective practice based on knowledge and experience. In working with patients, speech should be clear and friendly so that the patients is in no doubt about their own risk of pressure ulcer, and may then be involved in preventing pressure ulcer, based on professional instruction from health care personnel.

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