Clinical and practical issues around dressing use in primary abdominal wounds: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals' and patients' views

Christel McMullan*, Jane M Blazeby, Jenny L Donovan, Leila Rooshenas, Daisy Elliott, J Mathers, Natalie S Blencowe, Barnaby C Reeves, Rhiannon C Macefield

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
61 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Primary surgical abdominal wounds are usually covered with a dressing. However, little is known about practical issues and costs around these dressings. This study aimed to provide an in-depth description of patients’ and healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) perspectives on the clinical and practical issues associated with standard and novel dressing (glue-as-a-dressing) use on primary surgical wounds, and to establish whether and how their experience compares with these perspectives. During semistructured interviews, patients and HCPs discussed their positive experience of glueas-a-dressing and no dressing around six themes: wound contamination and infection, wound healing, wound care, physical protection afforded by simple dressings, potential psychological impact of an exposed wound, and ability to carry out everyday tasks. Current views on the practice of dressings for primary abdominal wounds are influenced by ingrained clinical practice. These views can be challenged when exposed to novel dressing strategies or as new evidence of the clinical effect of dressing strategies emerges.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBritish Journal of Nursing
Volume28
Issue number20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Nov 2019

Research Groups and Themes

  • BTC (Bristol Trials Centre)
  • Centre for Surgical Research

Keywords

  • Feasibility studies
  • qualitative
  • wound dressings
  • exposed wounds
  • glue-as-a-dressing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Clinical and practical issues around dressing use in primary abdominal wounds: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals' and patients' views'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this