Patients' perceptions and experiences of living with a surgical wound healing by secondary intention: A qualitative study.
Dorothy McCaughan, Laura Sheard, Nicky Cullum and 2 others
PMID 29031127WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with open surgical wounds reported that exudate leakage and smell caused more social withdrawal than pain.
They felt trapped by unpredictable district nurse visits and distressed by conflicting advice on wound management.
Key findings
01Exudate leakage and malodour caused more social withdrawal than pain.
02Unpredictable district nurse visit timings left patients feeling trapped at home.
03Conflicting advice from different clinicians regarding wound management caused significant patient anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Small sample size (n=20) limits transferability. Participants were recruited from two specific locations in the North of England with high deprivation. Ethnicity was predominantly white British (19/20). Self-reported comorbidities and wound duration may be subject to recall bias.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research. No conflicts of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these patient perceptions as evidence of treatment efficacy. The study reports what patients experienced and felt, not whether specific interventions like negative pressure wound therapy actually improved healing rates compared to other treatments.