Authors (including presenting author) :
LAM M(1), SUEN D(1), YIP TH(1), HEUNG LW(1), LEUNG SS(1), POON PL(2), FUNG S(2), LAM PK(2), TONG KM(2), LI KY(1), CHAN MWM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Community Nursing Service, Princess Margaret Hospital (2) Information Technology, Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
Wound management accounts for 28,000 outreach nursing visits per year, nearly 57% of total home visits in PMH Community Nursing Service (CNS). All along, community nurses jotted down wound condition during visits and filled out detailed records only after completing all home visits on the same day. The whole process was time consuming and inefficient. Accurate collection of wound information is not only indispensable to wound care management, wound trend analysis is also important in evaluating treatment effectiveness. To enhance service quality and daily workflow under increasing service demands, PMH CNS initiated a mobile app to modernize the nursing practice in wound assessment and documentation in community setting.
Objectives :
1. To facilitate timely wound care documentation in a proper and effective way
2. To promote customer experience and engage patient/ carer in wound management
3. To enable better resource planning and service improvement
Methodology :
In collaboration with KWC Information and Technology (IT) department, a mobile app was developed in 2020 and was evolved from prototype into user version by multiple trials and enhancement. The Wound App allows community nurses to input and retrieve information including patient’s wound condition and care management anytime, anywhere with tablets. Staff training was conducted by IT colleagues in PMH CNS in January 2021, providing comprehensive information on the mobile app operation. The Wound App was eventually commenced in March 2021. Usage of the app was continuously monitored and supported by CNS supervisors.
Result & Outcome :
Around 25,000 wound assessment records were created via Wound App since March 2021. Positive feedback on the Wound App was received from community nurses, patients and carers. Community nurses were satisfied with the app to perform documentation timely, digitally, safely and conveniently. Wound trend could be retrieved on-the-go for patient/ carer empowerment. Patients and carers appreciated the Wound App that they had better understanding & communication on the wound progress with community nurses by Wound Summary. Big data analysis of the collected information enabled better service planning and resource utilization in the department. By cross-team cross-hospital experience sharing, the service model is hopefully rolled out to other clusters’ hospitals & specialties in future.
