Children who are at risk of pressure ulcers need to be identified so that preventative measures can be taken. Most paediatric pressure ulcer risk assessment scales were developed using clinical experience, or by modifying adult scales. The Glamorgan Paediatric Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale was developed using detailed paediatric inpatient data.

Aim: To establish whether the inter-rater reliability of the Glamorgan scale was adequate for use in clinical practice.

Method: Fifteen qualified nurses randomly selected from staff working on seven paediatric wards or units in a large tertiary referral hospital have participated in the study to date. Nurses asked permission from the children and parents in their care to collect anonymous data in the risk assessment section of the Glamorgan scale. The nurse and the researcher independently assessed the child’s risk. Paired risk assessments were later compared and analysed using SPSS.

Results: The total risk scores ranged from 15 to 34 (high to very high risk). There was 100 per cent agreement on all items except for ‘inadequate nutrition’.

Conclusion: These preliminary data indicate that the risk assessment scale is reliable. More research on the reliability and validity of this tool with specific paediatric patient groups should be carried out, ideally comparing the performance of this tool with other published paediatric pressure ulcer risk assessment tools.