WOC Best Practice Tip of the Day: Effectiveness in Relating Skin, Wound and Ostomy Education to the Staff Nurse

WOC Best Practice Tip of the Day:  Effectiveness in Relating Skin, Wound and Ostomy Education to the Staff Nurse

Purpose:  The purpose of this abstract is to assess the effectiveness of the WOC Tip of the Day in improving staff nurse education, comfort and prevention of skin breakdown.  The monitoring and prevention of skin breakdown is a priority in nursing care.  Research has shown that a nurse’s lack of knowledge in skin care can have a negative impact on patient care.    The WOC Tip of the Day began as a way to communicate by email brief and concise education on skin, wound and ostomy care in the same way to a larger amount of nurses and nursing assistants.

Method: At a level II rural hospital with an average inpatient daily census of 95, a survey link was sent to the email distribution list of nursing staff who receive the tips.  The tips provided are based on education need noted that day or week.  The tips fit on one page and most had pictures.  Links and references were often provided for those interested in reading further.  Topics varied from skin fold care, skin tears, and ostomy, wound and pressure ulcer documentation to education on how to use products, etc. The survey provided qualitative data from 5 questions and had 42 anonymous participants. 

Results:  Participant answers:  93% read the tips, 88% find the tips helpful, and 83% feel more confident in providing skin care as a result of the tips.  90% of the participants felt patients have benefitted from the WOCN Best Practice Tips.

Conclusion:  A majority of those who responded to the survey indicated that they do read the tips, find them helpful, have changed practice and feel more confident in the care of their patients.