Using Teamwork to Reduce the Incidence of Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis

Abstract

Dermatitis associated with incontinence was the cause of 55% of the total of 386 skin lesion cases in our unit between July and December 2016 and 40.3% of the skin lesion cases in our unit during March and April 2017, indicating the importance of this issue. Our survey showed that the nurses in our unit scored an average of 78.9% on knowledge related to the prevention of incontinence-associated dermatitis and only 58.2% on knowledge related to incontinence-associated dermatitis care. The main reasons for the high incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis included: incorrect implementation of care, no discussion with the medical team, no incontinence care standards, no continue education, lack of related equipment for preventing incontinence-associated dermatitis, unit patient characteristics, and drugs used. To reduce the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis from 40.3% to 32.0%. A care-bundle in treating incontinence-associated dermatitis was implemented by designing an assessment flow chart for evaluating incontinence-associated dermatitis, by setting standard guidelines for incontinence-associated dermatitis care, by distributing reminder cards, special toolboxes, and by changing how the little diapers were wrapped. In-service education lessons, inter-professional collaborative practice, and regular internal audit were also executed. After project implementation, the knowledge score of nurses increased from 78.9% to 95.7%; the correctness of care score, as retested in November 2017, increased from 58.2% to 91.5%; and the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis dropped to 18.5%. These improvements achieved the goals of this project. Furthermore, the sustained effect of the project measures was confirmed, with the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis determined as 17.9% at three months after completion of the project. Formulating care procedures and cooperating with medical team personnel to provide creative care measures were shown to effectively decrease the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis and improve overall quality of care. The findings of this project support the revision by hospitals of regulations and procedures related to adult incontinence-associated dermatitis to provide caregivers with basis-of-care standards and uniform care procedures and standards in support of effective patient skin care regimens.