Wound assessment tools and nurses’ needs: an evaluation study

Greatrex-White, Sheila; Moxey, Helen

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain how well different wound assessment tools meet the needs of nurses in carrying out general wound assessment and whether current tools are fit for purpose. The methodology employed was evaluation research. In order to conduct the evaluation, a literature review was undertaken to identify
the criteria of an optimal wound assessment tool which would meet nurses’ needs. Several freely available wound assessment tools were selected based on predetermined
inclusion and exclusion criteria and an audit tool was developed to evaluate the selected tools based on how well they met the criteria of the optimal wound assessment
tool. The results provide a measure of how well the selected wound assessment tools meet the criteria of the optimal wound assessment tool. No tool was identified
which fulfilled all the criteria, but two (the Applied Wound Management tool and the National Wound Assessment Form) met the most criteria of the optimal tool and were therefore considered to best meet nurses’ needs in wound assessment. The study provides a mechanism for the appraisal of wound assessment tools using a set of optimal criteria which could aid practitioners in their search for the best wound assessment tool.

Citation

Greatrex-White, S., & Moxey, H. (in press). Wound assessment tools and nurses’ needs: an evaluation study. International Wound Journal, 12(3), https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.12100

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 21, 2013
• Online Publication Date: May 28, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 16, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 16, 2014
• Journal: International Wound Journal
• Print ISSN: 1742-4801
• Electronic ISSN: 1742-481X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.12100
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/714915
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/iwj.12100/abstract
• Additional Information: Early Online Version