Adequacy of Wound Education in Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate a 2-hour lecture and laboratory class on wound care by a nurse wound specialist. DESIGN: A quantitative, quasi-experimental nonrandomized design was used to measure undergraduate nursing student's knowledge of wound care, prevention, and documentation. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Sixty-five undergraduate nursing students in their second year of a 4-year public college participated in the study. Results were compared to 55 undergraduate first year nursing students in a 2-year community college program. Both the intervention and comparison groups received basic instruction on wound care and read a chapter on wound care in a required textbook prior to participating in this study. INSTRUMENTS: A pre- and postintervention questionnaire consisting of 10 multiple choice and true/false questions was used to measure wound care knowledge. METHODS: A comparison cohort study was conducted among 2 groups of nursing students to determine whether students receiving a 2-hour lecture and laboratory class on wound care by a nurse wound specialist retained more knowledge about wound care 2 months following the educational intervention. The intervention was 3-hour lecture and laboratory-based experience delivered by a wound care specialist. The control group completed the questionnaire at the end of the semester and answered questions based on their readings and basic lecture from their nursing program instructors. RESULTS: Intervention group participants had significantly higher scores on 7 of 10 questions as compared to the control group of student nurses. CONCLUSION: A 2-hour lecture or laboratory intervention improved the nursing student's knowledge of basic evidenced wound care; this improvement persisted for a prolonged period of time (2 months).