Authors (including presenting author) :
Yeung CY(1), Chong HM (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Wound Care Team, NSD, NTWC
Keyword 3: :
Quality Service
Keyword 4: :
Quality Service Initiative
Introduction :
Stoma and wound care knowledge and updates were delivered mainly through departmental talks, ad hoc education sessions and bedside demonstrations, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent information transfer among staff. Nursing staff found it difficult to access updated practice recommendations and product information issued by different professional associations, and there was no central platform to share key learning points from different clinical rounds and academic activities. As a result, colleagues were often unaware of new evidence and external activities relevant to clinical safety and the quality of wound and stoma care. To address these gaps, the Wound Care Team adopted the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model to design and implement a structured newsletter as a clinical safety and quality service initiative.
Objectives :
To implement a PDCA-guided, biannual SWAN Wound Care Team Newsletter as a centralised platform for clinical practice updates and experience sharing. Also, to enhance access to current stoma and wound care knowledge, promote clinical safety, strengthen staff communication and improve the quality of care among nursing staff.
Methodology :
Plan: After identifying key problems of fragmented information and limited accessibility of stoma and wound care knowledge, a structured, theme-based newsletter was planned. Contents included thematic clinical practice updates or clinical studies, multidisciplinary team (MDT) round reports, overseas conference experiences, dressing material introductions and multimedia learning resources. Themes for different issues were set according to contemporary incidence rates and concurrent educational programmes. Do: The SWAN Wound Care Team Newsletter was launched in April 2024 and was released twice a year. Initial circulation targeted nursing staff in NTWC as a pilot, and three issues have been released to date. Check: Feedback was collected from readers, and informal engagement indicators (e.g. link nurse meetings and clinical sharing) were reviewed to evaluate accessibility, relevance and perceived impact on practice.
Result & Outcome :
Nursing staff reported that the newsletter improved access to updated clinical knowledge and guidelines, current clinical practices and product information. It also provided a valuable opportunity to enhance their exposure to stoma and wound care through sharing of worldwide conference learning by clinical staff who attended overseas activities. The biannual, theme-based format effectively reduced information fragmentation and supported evidence-based decision-making in daily practice. In the Act phase, the further aim is to enhance multidisciplinary cooperation by expanding the target readership from NTWC nursing staff to all nursing staff and allied health colleagues. Ongoing refinement through iterative PDCA cycles was planned to further strengthen the clinical safety culture and service quality.
