Negative pressure wound therapy and nurse education.

BACKGROUND: there can be serious consequences for patients if negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is performed incorrectly and patient safety must be paramount. The existing literature was found to mainly concentrate on the use of the technology from the patient perspective. This article examines the opinions of nurses who apply the therapy.

METHOD: five staff nurses from different areas with differing experience levels were interviewed in a semi-structured manner. The transcribed interviews were coded, sorted into themes and analysed.

RESULTS: the themes were: enhancing knowledge and understanding, managing problematic pumps, formalised and interactive training, and efficacy and healing. There was a lack of standardised training provided for the nurses interviewed. Overall the nurses were aware of the basic evidence behind the treatment but would have liked additional support in this area as well as some practical, less pressured training. This complements the existing literature.

CONCLUSION: nurses are expected to learn difficult and highly specialised skills quickly within a busy ward environment, often with no prior training or preparation. As things can go wrong, with the potential for patient harm, it is vital that nurses get these skills right first time, but it is difficult to do this in a practical, fast and cost-effective way. There is scope for future research in the area and perhaps the development of an online training tool to assist nurses in understanding and undertaking a new procedure.