Patient Education at Dismissal After Surgical Procedure

Mayo Clinic

Status: Withdrawn

Conditions: Wound Open; Wound Breakdown; Wound Complication; Wound Infection Post-Traumatic; Wound Infection

Treatments: Behavioral: Enhanced Education

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03815500

18-008124

Details and patient eligibility

About

Can improvements in patient dismissal education materials reduce incidence of wound non-healing and infection.

Full description

The investigators seek to address the specific educational needs of patients and caregivers with low-literacy, dyslexia and related learning disabilities in the context of properly performing wound care for patients with surgical wounds. Specific aims include both improving care by decreasing wound complications and improving patient satisfaction by using techniques designed for this population. Objectives include utilizing surveys to determine the incidence of dyslexia among the patients' and caregivers' within the general surgery service as well as the perception of our current educational offerings, to design a new dismissal package with enhanced educational offerings, to re-measure this effect on the patient experience with survey data, and to compare wound infection rates before and after implementing the new curriculum. Dyslexia and associated learning disabilities are common and likely impact the health literacy among this population due to the ubiquitous literacy-based documentation of hospital course and dismissal instructions. Adults with dyslexia may be reluctant to disclose any inability to understand written instructions. There is currently no mechanism within the dismissal system to specifically identify and address the unique needs of this population. The impact on clinical outcomes of proper wound packing is substantial, and if performed incorrectly can lead to slow wound healing and infections that often require readmission, multiple courses of antibiotics, and reoperation. In severe cases, improper wound care can lead to severe infection, sepsis, and death. By enhancing the educational offerings of proper wound care to this population, the investigators hope to reduce these complications.

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adult patients on the general surgery service with open wounds requiring packing

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with wound vacs
• Patients receiving exclusively professional wound care or home health services

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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0 participants in 1 patient group

Patients with open surgical wounds

Experimental group

Description:

Patients with open surgical wounds will undergo enhanced packing education with curriculum designed for learners with low literacy, dyslexia or associated learning disorders.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Enhanced Education