Nursing Question

1. Information

Purpose Statement:

This assessment aims to apply your assessment skills to creating a tool for use in clinical practice to assess wounds

Learning Outcomes

This task is assessing the following LO (taken from the handbook):

LO1 – Apply a holistic approach to the systematic assessment of patients with wounds, incorporating physical, psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors.
LO2 – Identify and apply existing assessment strategies to inform a wound diagnosis and communicate this to the patient, their carers and the relevant multidisciplinary team(s).
LO3 – Formulate person-centred goals of care, in consultation with patients and their carers based on a holistic assessment of a patient with a wound.
LO4 – Distinguish how cross-cultural values and ethical requirements impact on the assessment of patient with wounds.
LO5 – Recognise and apply professional communication strategies when advocating for patients who require multidisciplinary team management.

2. Details of the task

For this assessment task, let’s assume you have started in a new role as a health professional in a wound care setting. It has been identified that in this workplace, that there is a need for a contemporary wound assessment chart.

Choose one (1) of the two options below to complete this assessment task.

Option 1:

You have been tasked to create a wound assessment chart suitable for your new work environment as a comprehensive chart does not exist. You need to ensure that the wound assessment chart considers all aspects of wound aetiology, evaluation of wounds and allows for appropriate goal-setting reflective of individual cultural background and ethical values.

Option 2:

Alternatively, you notice that there is an existing wound assessment tool that has significant issues. You will need to justify why you have particularly chosen to do this by providing an evidence-based rationale for why it is appropriate for your clinical practice area. You need to ensure that the wound assessment chart considers all aspects of wound aetiology, evaluation of wounds and allows for appropriate goal-setting reflective of individual cultural background and ethical values.

3. Details of the task

Your newly created/updated chart, should demonstrate the following:

• A holistic approach to the systematic assessment of people with wounds including using MEASURE, as well as incorporating physical, psychosocial and environmental factors.
• Make reference to evidence-based assessment classification systems where relevant (i.e. ISTAP).
• Reflect an awareness of cross-cultural differences and ethical values in assessing people with wounds (i.e. consider different skin tones, language supports, multi-cultural services).
• Progression towards short- and long-term culturally relevant person and wound centred goals is supported by this wound assessment chart.

In addition to creating/updating the wound assessment chart, you need to address the following in your accompanying report:

• Provide a summary of your workplace, including physical environment, staff characteristics, client characteristics and typical wound caseload.
• Provide a rationale on why you believe this chart needs to be either created/updated.
• Determine what are the fundamental concepts that are required to include and/or exclude in your (new/updated) wound assessment chart and for each individual concept, justify why you consider them to be relevant to this new chart and work environment. For each fundamental concept, explain why it is important in wound assessment, why you have included it/not included it and the clinical realities of your practice setting.
• Provide a rationale for goal setting methods utilised within the wound assessment chart.
• Consider the relevant information that you would provide for those who may use this chart in their clinical practice to support its implementation (e.g. user education, training to ensure inter-rater reliability) and provide a rationale for this, based on the work environment and people you provide care for.
• What extra considerations are needed (e.g. glossary of terms, images, references to evidence summaries) and provide a rationale for this, based on the work environment and people you provide care for.
• Additional reading and research are required to complete this assessment, in addition to the course materials. It is expected for this assessment that approximately 25 peer reviewed and contemporary references (with a preference for Level 1/2 evidence and/or clinical guidelines where possible) are required to demonstrate wider critical research and synthesis of the wound care literature.

4. Instructions – stylistic

• You may wish to use AI & Generative AI tools to support with the formatting of this assessment task. Where used, AI must be used responsibly, clearly documented and appropriately acknowledged in a statement prior to the reference list.
• Submit a well organised Wound Assessment Chart as a Word document in the appendix. If you include this as a PDF it will be returned to you for resubmission in Word document format.
• If you are choosing to update an existing wound chart, please include a copy of this chart in the appendix and highlight the significant differences.
• Consider the flow and functionality of the final product. If creating an electronic version, you are able to use drop down boxes, branching logic and hyperlinks as you would in an electronic version, ensuring all the information within these tools is visible to the marker.
• The discussion component of the submission must follow normal assignment conventions structure and organisation of the end product. This is inclusive of appropriate referencing using APA 7^th edition and the use of an appendix.
• Your written assignment needs to follow the normal assignment conventions as outlined in the Course Guide, including spacing, introduction, conclusion and references.
• Word Limit: 2500 for written assignment not including chart or references.

6. Marking Criteria

The marking criteria will assess your ability to:

• Critically appraise and apply clinical judgement wound assessment practices.
• Demonstrate a holistic approach to the assessment of people with wounds.
• Correctly apply the MEASURE tool.
• Document assessment findings clearly and professionally using a clinically appropriate wound chart format.