Life in the Field

I had the privilege of accompanying Turn Medical’s CEO, Tara Psencik, BSN, RN, to provide training on the Pronova-O2TM at a large metropolitan hospital. This was my first experience stepping inside a hospital to do hands-on training! The hospital system was a level one trauma center with multiple intensive care units (ICU) including a burn unit.

During our training sessions, we heard feedback from multiple ICU nurses. I noticed that coming into the training room some of the nurses appeared intimidated by the Pronova-O2TM, but everyone readily approached it and began hands-on training. After having the opportunity to participate in interactive training, they were excited to have access to the Pronova-O2TM. New equipment often appears overwhelming, but I’ve learned how interactive, hands-on training breaks down barriers to using equipment!

As we went over indications for prone positioning and hesitations clinicians have regarding proning, we were able to get insight into each nurse’s experience. Many of the nurses had practiced through the pandemic and were familiar with proning; however, several had never used an automated proning device and are still manually proning their patients. Some of the main obstacles for manual proning are the number of staff needed (6-8 staff members) and the physical demands of placing a patient in the prone position.

Manually proning patients has led to pressure injuries in the face and chest in their units. One unit told us about a patient that lost his upper lip after being manually proned! Seventy-six percent of pressure injuries related to proning occur in the face and chest1. We were able to show them how the Pronova-O2TM can help relieve some of the pressure and how the InteliDermTM Powered Skin Protection System removes ten times more moisture and heat from the face and chest than prone positioning foam2.

Spending one week training and interacting with these nurses was inspiring. I look forward to the next training session I get to lead!

If your hospital needs hands-on, interactive training, call us at 855-ASK-TURN to set it up. We have experienced critical care clinicians who are excited to provide training.