UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital – Virtual Wound Care Nurse
UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital identified an opportunity to improve the process of wound identification within the first 24 hours of admission. Additionally, the team noted the time to obtain orders to treat wounds was longer than desired and sought an innovative solution to address these issues.
As a result of the identified opportunities for improvement, UCHealth University of Colorado developed a high efficiency and scalable platform to deploy an effective skin surveillance program and implemented the Virtual Wound Care Nurse program (VWCN) organization-wide.
The VWCN program utilized virtual certified wound care nurses and clinical systems to populate lists needed for virtual triage and for those at high risk for developing hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI). Additionally, the virtual nurse also performs wound vision reviews and quality reporting. This model ensured that high risk patients have the HAPI bundle elements in place including appropriate wearable technology that provides information about patients turning history. This program also facilitated timely follow-up of patients with existing skin breakdown through a virtual platform to avoid further injury progression. Finally, skin failure definitions were developed, and operational workflows were deployed to help with the identification and documentation of potential skin failure. Staff also collaborated with the on-site wound care team in real time for wound consults.
VWCN program successes include the following:
- Earlier detection of patients at high risk for developing a stage 3, 4, unstageable, or deep tissue injury with enhanced EHR tools, including a HAPI AI model.
- 24% decrease in stage 3, 4, or unstageable injuries.
- 40% percent increase of wound care patients seen each week.
- Consult times were reduced by > 72 hours without an increase in staffing levels.
- By utilizing the virtual model, these successes were realized without a corresponding increase in staffing levels.
To learn more about the VWCN program, please contact Amy Hassell ([email protected]) at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.