Cost-effective transparent dressing for drain care in Community

Abstract Description

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Authors (including presenting author) :

Wong, OLI (1), Lee, KY (1), Karn, KY (1)

Affiliation :

(1) Community Nursing Service, United Christian Hospital

Introduction :

Currently practice for exit site dressing is covered with gauze and non-transparent dressing which is difficult for observation. Community nurse (CN) provides home visit for the drain care at least twice per week or daily sometimes to assess the wound condition. CNs need to remove the old dressing for assessment then change the dressing even if the exit-site is clean and dry. This non-value added activities add costs on our service without enhancing any quality. Thus, an innovative and cost effective dressing method for drain care is initiated in Kowloon East Cluster Community Nursing Service (KEC CNS) to minimize the non-value added cost including the nursing time and dressing materials.

Objectives :

1. To facilitate the wound care for easy observation on the exit site 2. To enhance the cost effective on wound and drain care such as dressing material and nursing time of CN 3. To reduce unnecessary wound dressing that may increase the risk of wound infection 4. To increase patient and family engagement in their health by empowerment on wound care

Methodology :

The project was launched from late November to December 2018. A kick off briefing session to introduce the dressing method to the CNs was held at the beginning. Patients with drain care would be recruited after CNs’ assessment. The transparent film dressing will be applied to the drain site with minimal exudates. Hence, the exit site condition was observed through the transparent dressing by the CNs as well as the patient and caregivers. As the material is transparent, this dressing offers the advantage of allowing exit site inspection without dressing removal. In this connection, the frequency of dressing change could be reduced one time per week. CNs also educated the patients and caregivers to report any excessive exudate, skin irritation, leakage or loosening. Reassessment would be carried out whether continued use is appropriate. As it turns out, the frequency of dressing changes or home visits could be minimized. Data was collected and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the transparent dressing method in 28 days or off drain.

Result & Outcome :

Totally 17 patients were recruited. Compared with the transitional dressing method, this innovative dressing method reduced the frequency of dressing changes by 59 % (134 to 55). Meanwhile, it was also saved the cost of dressing material for changing dressing. Moreover, there were no abnormality of exit site and wound infections were reported during the pilot period.