title: Clinical audit of leg ulceration prevalence in a community area: a case study of good practice.
abstract: This article presents the findings of an audit on venous leg ulceration prevalence in a community area as a framework for discussing the concept and importance of audit as a tool to inform practice and as a means to benchmark care against national or international standards. It is hoped that the discussed audit will practically demonstrate how such procedures can be implemented in practice for those who have not yet undertaken it, as well as highlighting the unexpected extra benefits of this type of qualitative data collection that can often unexpectedly inform practice and influence change. Audit can be used to measure, monitor and disseminate evidence-based practice across community localities, facilitating the identification of learning needs and the instigation of clinical change, thereby prioritising patient needs by ensuring safety through the benchmarking of clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Tissue Viability Clinical Nurse Specialist and Clinical Lead, Virgin Care Surrey.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hindley
mesh_terms: D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D019985:Benchmarking; D054869:Clinical Audit; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D058128:Compression Bandages; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing*; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Best practice; Clinical change; Learning; Quality measures