[Using Time Management and Quality Improvements to Decrease the Incidence of Unexpected Skin Defects in...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Surgical Nursing
• Wound Care

Background:

• Radical mastectomy often leads to seromas, necessitating extensive wound compression with adhesive tape and gauze.
• Repeated dressing changes increase the risk of skin defects and prolonged hospital stays, raising the risk of nosocomial infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease the incidence of unexpected skin defects in post-mastectomy patients to below 15%.

Main Methods:

• Developed a standard operating procedure for post-mastectomy wound compression.
• Replaced adhesive tape with narrow girdles and single-layer gauze with soft elastic bandages.
• Utilized a skin examination form for continuous monitoring.

Main Results:

• Reduced the incidence of unexpected skin defects from 100% to 13%.
• Decreased nursing time for wound dressing care from 25 minutes to 15 minutes per instance.

Conclusions:

• The implemented project effectively improved postoperative wound care quality for post-mastectomy patients.
• The new procedures reduced the time clinical nursing staff spent on wound dressing care.