Purpose: The purpose of this QI project was to use the best available evidence and expert opinion to develop and implement a simple inpatient nursing care guideline for minor skin lesions.
Participants and Setting: This wound care guideline was developed for nurses working on inpatient adult acute care units. The setting was a large community hospital in southwest Minnesota.
Approach: The guideline was validated for its clarity and appropriateness by external and internal expert wound care nurses. It was implemented through in-person unit rounding on the nursing units, distribution of badge cards with the guideline, and a required online education module about the guideline. Surveys and audits were conducted to measure changes in knowledge and skin care pre- and post-guideline implementation.
Outcomes: Wound documentation audits assessing whether patients had an appropriate treatment improved from 45% (104 out of 231) to 80% (209 out of 260). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about which dressings and topical treatment to use improved from 18% (16 out of 89) agreement to 57% (55 out of 96). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about when to change dressings and reapply topical treatments improved from 27% (24 out of 89) agreement to 65% (62 out of 96).
Implications for Practice: Although there is evidence for a variety of dressings or products to treat wounds, this QI project demonstrated increased compliance with providing appropriate care when just a few treatment options were recommended to nursing staff through a structured guideline. This guideline continues to be used at the project site and is now being implemented at affiliate hospitals.
","abstract_html":"<p>Purpose: The purpose of this QI project was to use the best available evidence and expert opinion to develop and implement a simple inpatient nursing care guideline for minor skin lesions.</p> <p>Participants and Setting: This wound care guideline was developed for nurses working on inpatient adult acute care units. The setting was a large community hospital in southwest Minnesota.</p> <p>Approach: The guideline was validated for its clarity and appropriateness by external and internal expert wound care nurses. It was implemented through in-person unit rounding on the nursing units, distribution of badge cards with the guideline, and a required online education module about the guideline. Surveys and audits were conducted to measure changes in knowledge and skin care pre- and post-guideline implementation.</p> <p>Outcomes: Wound documentation audits assessing whether patients had an appropriate treatment improved from 45% (104 out of 231) to 80% (209 out of 260). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about which dressings and topical treatment to use improved from 18% (16 out of 89) agreement to 57% (55 out of 96). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about when to change dressings and reapply topical treatments improved from 27% (24 out of 89) agreement to 65% (62 out of 96).</p> <p>Implications for Practice: Although there is evidence for a variety of dressings or products to treat wounds, this QI project demonstrated increased compliance with providing appropriate care when just a few treatment options were recommended to nursing staff through a structured guideline. This guideline continues to be used at the project site and is now being implemented at affiliate hospitals.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bates, Alexandra"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Yale University School of Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth Ercolano"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:16:00Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1084","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth Ercolano"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bates, Alexandra"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Yale University School of Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1084"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Purpose: The purpose of this QI project was to use the best available evidence and expert opinion to develop and implement a simple inpatient nursing care guideline for minor skin lesions.
Participants and Setting: This wound care guideline was developed for nurses working on inpatient adult acute care units. The setting was a large community hospital in southwest Minnesota.
Approach: The guideline was validated for its clarity and appropriateness by external and internal expert wound care nurses. It was implemented through in-person unit rounding on the nursing units, distribution of badge cards with the guideline, and a required online education module about the guideline. Surveys and audits were conducted to measure changes in knowledge and skin care pre- and post-guideline implementation.
Outcomes: Wound documentation audits assessing whether patients had an appropriate treatment improved from 45% (104 out of 231) to 80% (209 out of 260). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about which dressings and topical treatment to use improved from 18% (16 out of 89) agreement to 57% (55 out of 96). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about when to change dressings and reapply topical treatments improved from 27% (24 out of 89) agreement to 65% (62 out of 96).
Implications for Practice: Although there is evidence for a variety of dressings or products to treat wounds, this QI project demonstrated increased compliance with providing appropriate care when just a few treatment options were recommended to nursing staff through a structured guideline. This guideline continues to be used at the project site and is now being implemented at affiliate hospitals.
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Participants and Setting: This wound care guideline was developed for nurses working on inpatient adult acute care units. The setting was a large community hospital in southwest Minnesota.
Approach: The guideline was validated for its clarity and appropriateness by external and internal expert wound care nurses. It was implemented through in-person unit rounding on the nursing units, distribution of badge cards with the guideline, and a required online education module about the guideline. Surveys and audits were conducted to measure changes in knowledge and skin care pre- and post-guideline implementation.
Outcomes: Wound documentation audits assessing whether patients had an appropriate treatment improved from 45% (104 out of 231) to 80% (209 out of 260). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about which dressings and topical treatment to use improved from 18% (16 out of 89) agreement to 57% (55 out of 96). Nurses’ self-rating of their knowledge about when to change dressings and reapply topical treatments improved from 27% (24 out of 89) agreement to 65% (62 out of 96).
Implications for Practice: Although there is evidence for a variety of dressings or products to treat wounds, this QI project demonstrated increased compliance with providing appropriate care when just a few treatment options were recommended to nursing staff through a structured guideline. This guideline continues to be used at the project site and is now being implemented at affiliate hospitals.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1084"],"dc:title":["Development And Implementation Of A Simple Wound Care Guideline For Minor Skin Lesions: A Quality Improvement Project"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Yale University School of Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:16:00Z"}