Acute surgical wound-dressing procedure: Description of the steps involved in the development and validation of an observational metric

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2019-04-01
Authors
Hegarty, Josephine
Howson, Victoria
Wills, Teresa
Creedon, Sile A.
Mc Cluskey, Pat
Lane, Aoife
Connolly, Aine
Walshe, Nuala
Noonan, Brendan
Guidera, Fiona
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Published Version
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop an observational metric that could be used to assess the performance of a practitioner in completing an acute surgical wound-dressing procedure using aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT). A team of clinicians, academics, and researchers came together to develop an observational metric using an iterative six-stage process, culminating in a Delphi panel meeting. A scoping review of the literature provided a background empirical perspective relating to wound-dressing procedure performance. Video recordings of acute surgical wound-dressing procedures performed by nurses in clinical (n = 11) and simulated (n = 3) settings were viewed repeatedly and were iteratively deconstructed by the metric development group. This facilitated the identification of the discrete component steps, potential errors, and sentinel (serious) errors, which characterise a wound dressing procedure and formed part of the observational metric. The ANTT wound-dressing observational metric was stress tested for clarity, the ability to be scored, and interrater reliability, calculated during a further phase of video analysis. The metric was then subjected to a process of cyclical evaluation by a Delphi panel (n = 21) to obtain face and content validity of the metric. The Delphi panel deliberation verified the face and content validity of the metric. The final metric has three phases, 31 individual steps, 18 errors, and 27 sentinel errors. The metric is a tool that identifies the standard to be attained in the performance of acute surgical wound dressings. It can be used as both an adjunct to an educational programme and as a tool to assess a practitioner's performance of a wound-dressing procedure in both simulated and clinical practice contexts.
Description
Keywords
Acute surgery , Wound-dressing procedure , Aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT)
Citation
Hegarty, J., Howson, V., Wills, T., Creedon, S.A., Mc Cluskey, P., Lane, A., Connolly, A., Walshe, N., Noonan, B., Guidera, F. and Gallagher, A.G., 2019. Acute surgical wound‐dressing procedure: Description of the steps involved in the development and validation of an observational metric. International wound journal. (8pp). DOI:10.1111/iwj.13072