Applied Wound Management as an audit tool to inform practice

Pam Cooper, David Gray, Fiona Russell and Sandra Stringfellow are Clinical Nurse Specialists; John Timmons, Melvyn Bertram, Kristine Duguid, Gail Pirie and Evelyn Quinn are Tissue Viability Nurses, all at the Department of Tissue Viability, NHS Grampian, Aberdeen Wound care practice can be difficult to monitor due to the complex nature of wounds, the patients, the variety of dressings, and the number of staff involved. Applied Wound Management (AWM) and the three wound healing continuums provide a simple audit tool to collect data on a daily basis, which can be analysed over time allowing performance to be monitored and compared with data from other time periods or with other clinical settings. This paper demonstrates that keeping records of patient numbers, presenting conditions and healing rates can be invaluable when discussing staff training, staffing levels and the work involved in caseloads.