Consistency and cost of home wound management by contract nurses

The purposes of this descriptive study were to determine the consistency of wound care provided by home health care nurses with the physician's order and the agency's written wound protocol; and the type and cost of wound-management products and nursing services associated with home care. Eleven registered nurses were observed providing wound care in 117 home visits to 31 patients. In addition to the observational component, data were also collected by chart review to facilitate comparison of observed vs. documented care. There were statistically significant differences between observed care given and that which was documented in patients' records. Consistency of care for individual patients was high when care was delivered by the same nurse, but lower when different nurses were involved. The mean dollar value of supplies used for all visits was $9.40, and the average nursing charge per visit was $89.