Pain relief during wound care for patients with a deep open wound in an orthopedic trauma department: a best practice implementation project.

OBJECTIVES:The aim of this project was to implement best practice in pain relief during wound care for patients with deep open wounds in the orthopedic trauma department of a tertiary teaching hospital in China. INTRODUCTION:Patients with deep open wounds often suffer from severe pain during wound care. Inadequate pain relief for these patients calls for evidence-based changes to close the gap between current and best practice. METHODS:The current quality improvement project was carried out over six months using the JBI Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (JBI PACES). A baseline and two follow-up audits of wound pain management practice were conducted to identify practice gaps and post implementation compliance in pain management in wound care. The sample comprised 20 patients and two dressing nurses. The Getting Research into Practice tool identified barriers to and strategies for improvement in practice. The patients' pain experiences were measured following the implementation of changes. RESULTS:The baseline audit identified poor compliance with best practice. Following implementation of the recommended changes, some significant improvements in practice were made by the dressing nurses; however, these were inadequately maintained at the second post implementation audit. Patients' pain scores improved following the nurses' practice changes (t = 2.272, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION:The implementation of best practice in pain relief during wound care for patients with deep open wounds has led to significant improvement in nurses' performance in the orthopedic trauma department. The most challenging barriers involved interdisciplinary collaborations and organizational structure.