How a licensed wound care nurse improves outcomes and reduces costs

Editor’s note: We have partnered with Wound Care Education Institute raising awareness of the devastating effects of wound care knowledge gaps within the US health care system. Our goal is to teach clinicians so that they can empower themselves and their organizations to combat these gaps wound care education.

Having a licensed wound care nurse in your team has a positive impact on each patient care and your bottom line.

Researchers have found that reducing the variety of pressure injuries saves money, with individual organizations stopping even one Stage 3 or 4 pressure injury, saving $20,000 in direct costs or as much as $120,000 in total costs.

“In the vast majority of cases, pressure injuries can be avoided with appropriate care,” said Dr. Bob Applebaum, director of the Ohio Long-Term Care Research Project, professor within the Department of Sociology and Gerontology and a Scripps Research Fellow at Miami University.

This is very important because there are over 2.5 million people living within the United States are affected by pressure injuries According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, every year over 60,000 patients die as a direct results of this disease.

The high cost of lack of prevention

The average cost of hospital treatment related to grade 4 pressure injuries and complications were $129,248 for nosocomial pressure ulcers over one admission and $124,327 for community-acquired pressure ulcers on average over 4 admissions. Cost of pressure injuries In the US, from $9.1 to $11.6 billion per yr, with individual patient care costs starting from $20,900 to $151,700 for every pressure injury. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in 2007, Medicare estimated that every pressure injury increases hospital costs by $43,180.

The value of a licensed wound care nurse

A wound care certification is a boon to your nursing profession, making enrollment in Wound Care Education Institute (WCEI) a crucial element of your nursing knowledge.

“Our graduates have dedicated themselves not only to their careers, but also to their patients,” said Diana Ramirez-Ripp, CWCMS, live events manager at WCEI. “Some of our graduates serve on the boards of various organizations or open wound care centers. Once you become certified, you are considered an expert in your field, which can make you more likely to pursue more career opportunities.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services study was conducted after a 2016 wound care training through which nearly 200 long-term care nurses in Ohio participated. The study found an association between having certified wound care staff on site and reducing the incidence of pressure injuries in patients. A complete of 199 nurses attended a full-time, five-day wound care certification course after which took the wound care certification exam offered by the accreditation board, the National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy.

The Training in skin and wound treatment was provided by WCEI through a three way partnership with the Ohio Health Care Association and the Ohio Department of Medicaid. The objective was to find out whether there was an improvement in indicators related to the incidence of pressure injuries, as evidenced by a decrease within the incidence of pressure injuries in patients in a talented nursing facility that employed certified wound care nurses.

According to John LeDell of CWCMS, client director at WCEI, a Relias Healthcare company, a complete of 140 nurses – 70% – passed the exam and have become certified. “In addition to monitoring the incidence of pressure injuries, other data routinely collected was intended to confirm whether each facility included in the study continued to employ a registered wound care nurse,” he said. “Data tracking and reporting was conducted by the Ohio Health Care Association and results were reported to the Ohio Department of Medicaid.”

Proof of the advantages of certification

Once the training and testing process was complete, the study began with a baseline within the fourth quarter of 2016 after which monitored rates of high-risk pressure injuries within the study’s expert nursing facilities in Ohio, LeDell said. The Ohio Health Care Association divided the facilities included within the study into two different groups, Group A and Group B. Group A sites included those with the 25% lowest rates of pressure injuries at baseline. Facilities from group B are those who achieved the very best ends in 75%.

• Rates of high-risk barotrauma have decreased significantly in facilities employing certified wound care staff.
• Initially, Group A facilities experienced a pressure injury rate of 11.4% in 2016, which dropped to 7% in 2017, an improvement of over 4%.
• Group B facilities that were already performing well on quality measures had an initial pressure injury rate of three.61% in 2016, which dropped further to three.2% in 2017.
• The numbers for Group A are much more dramatic when comparing the bottom rate in 2016 to 2018. Group A dropped from a starting rate of 11.4% in 2016 and dropped to 2.44% in 2018, which suggests a decrease of just about 9%.

“The results of this study are encouraging and represent a good first step as a pilot program on this topic,” Applebaum said.

Prepare for the CWCN exam by taking the Wound Care Certification Review Course.

Nurse.com offers a totally online, self-paced preparation course.