Assessing the primary nurse role in the wound healing process.
OBJECTIVE
To delineate the role of the primary nurse in wound care.


METHODS
Data were collected from patient charts within a free-standing rehabilitation hospital in a Canadian province. Within the context of a continuous quality improvement programme, a retrospective chart review was performed. An audit tool was constructed; its face validity was assessed by a panel of staff nurses.


RESULTS
Primary nurses are involved in every step of wound care: assessment, treatment, evaluation of wound status and treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Within the cycle of continuous quality improvement (CQI), this project constitutes the first essential step of assessing the primary nurse's role in wound care. Further CQI studies such as in-service education in wound care and pre-post education evaluation projects are recommended.
Huynh
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McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. truc.huynh@mail.mcgill.ca
Forget-Falcicchio
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D009731:Nursing Audit; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010819:Physician's Role; D011792:Quebec; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014945:Wound Healing; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000451:nursing*