[Improving the Accuracy of Patient Self-Care After Joint Replacement Surgery]

Joint replacement wound stitches are typically not removed until two weeks after the operation. Therefore, patients with joint replacement must be able to execute proper wound care after discharge from the hospital to reduce the risk of wound infection. Prior data from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's orthopedics ward indicate only 69% of joint-replacement patients are able to perform wound care properly at home. Potential causes for this noted by patients include age-related forgetfulness, being unable to discern redness or swelling in the wound, and language comprehension difficulties (i.e., Taiwanese vs. Mandarin). Poor rates of wound care may also be attributable to incomplete wound care education by nursing staff and wound care education being provided without adequate practice on the day of patient discharge.

This project was implemented to improve the accuracy of wound self-care performed by patients after joint replacement surgery and to enhance their related knowledge and wound-care technical correctness.

A wound care education checklist, wound care cue cards, wound care video clips, wound condition red flag cue cards, and customized wound care pack were proposed and implemented.

The rate of accuracy of wound self-care performance increased from 69% pretest to 98% posttest, showing the intervention to have effectively improved post-discharge wound care quality.

To effectively improve the post-discharge accuracy of wound self-care in patients with joint replacement, the consistency of post-surgery wound care education given by nursing staff to patients should be improved, patients should be reminded of wound assessment and care steps, and patients should be aware that wound abnormalities require an immediate return to the hospital for follow-up treatment.