Page 24 - Mobility Management, August 2018

ATP Series
FRICTION AND SHEAR
UNDERSTANDING WHAT SHEAR IS AND HOW TO LOWER CLIENT RISK IS AN EVOLVING PROCESS
FLOWING MOTION PARTICLES: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/STUDIOM1
The challenge in understanding shear, its risk factors and implications is that those concepts are moving targets, no pun intended. What the healthcare industry knows about shear and the dam- age it can cause is evolving rapidly. Consider: Just a decade ago, there was little enough under- standing of deep tissue injuries (DTI) that the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) referred to them as “Suspected Deep Tissue Injuries” (see sidebar). In 2016, the terminology changed as a result of an improved understanding of what DTI are and how they can be caused.
Shear, of course, is one of the possible causes of DTI. And while shear is better understood now than just a few years ago, there is still considerably more to learn.
22 AUGUST 2018 | MOBILITY MANAGEMENT MobilityMgmt.com