Elevating Wound Care Education Decreases Readmissions

In the United States, approximately 1 in 5 hospital patients is readmitted within 30 days of discharge,¹ and wound complications are a leading cause. Colorado-based UCHealth saw a need for comprehensive wound care education in ambulatory and outpatient clinic education to help decrease their wound-related readmissions. They partnered with Medline to develop and implement training.

Last summer, UCHealth hosted Medline’s clinical support team at its campus to educate 75 nurses. The program included an interactive gamification approach to training that reinforces essential wound care principles. It reviews the latest products, skills and techniques that can significantly improve healing outcomes.

“When we don’t adhere to best practices, patients may not receive the care they need, which can delay healing and increase their risk of readmission, posing increased risk to high-risk patients,” says Amanda Stephens, a clinical educator at UCHealth.

“When we don’t adhere to best practices, patients may not receive the care they need, which can delay healing and increase their risk of readmission.”

Christina Pagan, an ambulatory clinical nurse educator for UCHealth, praised the in-depth education experience Medline offers, saying, “I was blown away by the amount of time and detail that was put into creating this education. This was not even a capability I knew vendors had.” UCHealth clinicians who were surveyed after the education and training reported that they have used the techniques they learned. “Through these specialized approaches, nursing staff are getting and retaining the information they need to do their jobs effectively,” says Patricia Turner, BSN, RN, CWS, CWOCN, skin health clinical services expert at Medline.