Developing and Establishing a Wound Dressing Team: Experience and Recommendations

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Clinical Nursing
• Wound Care Services

Background:

• Limited literature exists on wound-dressing teams for non-specialized wound care.
• Existing research focuses on specialized wound care and multidisciplinary teams.
• This study addresses the gap by reporting on the establishment of a wound-dressing team.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the benefits and outcomes of establishing a wound-dressing team.
• To assess patient and healthcare provider satisfaction with the wound-dressing team service.
• To provide a framework for implementing similar wound-dressing team models.

Main Methods:

• A wound-dressing team was established at Korea University Guro Hospital.
• Data from 180,872 wound cases managed between July 2018 and June 2022 were analyzed.
• Patient and healthcare provider satisfaction surveys were conducted.

Main Results:

• Catheter-related issues (45.3%) were the most common wound type, followed by pressure ulcers (27.1%).
• High satisfaction scores were reported by patients (8.9), ward nurses (8.1), dressing team nurses (8.2), and physicians (9.1).
• A low complication rate of 0.08% (136 cases) was observed.

Conclusions:

• Wound-dressing teams enhance satisfaction for both patients and healthcare providers.
• The service model demonstrated a low incidence of complications.
• Findings support the establishment of wound-dressing teams as a valuable service model.