JCR and Hill-Rom Name First Nurse Scholar-in...( Irene M. Jankowski of Beth Israel ...),Health

Irene M. Jankowski of Beth Israel Medical Center to lead efforts to develop tools and insights into the prevention of pressure ulcers

OAK BROOK, Ill. and BATESVILLE, Ind., April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nurse practitioner Irene M. Jankowski, A.P.R.N., B.C., M.S.N, C.W.O.C.N., of Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, New York, has been named the first Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence, a role launched this year by Joint Commission Resources (JCR) and Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC). JCR is a not-for-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission. Hill-Rom is a global medical technology company.

Recognizing the important role that nurses play in translating evidence-based findings into excellent care at the patient's bedside, the Nurse Safety Scholar-in-Residence program focuses initially on developing tools and best practices to maintain skin integrity and to prevent pressure ulcers. An estimated 2.5 million patients are treated annually for pressure ulcers in acute care facilities in the United States, according to studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003 and 2006. A December 2008 report by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) states that in 2006 there were 503,000 hospital stays with pressure ulcers noted as a diagnosis, nearly an 80 percent increase since 1993. Lengths of stay, discharges to long term care settings, average patient age, and mortality were all higher in patients with pressure ulcers than in those without. Pressure ulcers are among the preventable conditions and events on Medicare's "no pay" list.

Jankowski is a certified wound, ostomy and continence specialist who has published and presented widely on interventions to prevent pressure ulcers. She earned a master's degree in nursing from Lehman College of the Ci
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