Benefits of Collaboration Between the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse and Orthopedic Surgeon When Treating Skin Defects After Soft Tissue Sarcoma Resection: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.
Hiromi Sasaki, Tomoyo Nishiobino, Hiroyuki Tominaga and 4 others
PMID 38527318WHAT IT FOUND
Wound healing duration did not differ, but hospital stay was shorter in the WOC nurse group: 38.3 days versus 47.1 days.
Key findings
01Hospital stay was shorter in the WOC nurse group: mean 38.3 days versus 47.1 days in the nonintervention group (P = .023).
02Mean duration of wound healing from resection was 53.0 days with WOC nurse involvement and 69.2 days without, with no significant difference (P = .55).
03Negative pressure wound therapy was used for 21 of 25 patients overall, including 9 of 11 in the intervention group and 12 of 14 in the nonintervention group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 25 patients, and the WOC nurse group had 11 patients. It was retrospective and single-center, using records from a university hospital in Kagoshima, Japan. Groups were formed by care period: 2019 to 2021 with WOC nurse involvement versus 2015 to 2018 without it. The shorter hospital stay occurred alongside surgeon-led care, skin grafting, topical treatments, and NPWT, so the contribution of the WOC nurse cannot be separated from the other components. The positive result was shorter hospital stay; duration of wound healing from resection was not significantly different (P = .55). The study did not include evaluations from patients or facility staff and did not evaluate cost savings.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that WOC nurse care alone shortened hospital stay. This was a small retrospective study, and patients also received surgery, skin grafting, topical treatments, negative pressure wound therapy, and surgeon-led care, while wound healing time did not differ (P = .55).