Surgical wound benchmark tool and best practice guidelines.

Surgical wounds that heal by primary intention are expected to heal without complication (Watret and White, 2001). Patients are frequently subjected to a variety of treatment regimens, often based on individual practitioners' preferences. This article discusses how one acute hospital trust developed a multidisciplinary approach to devise best practice guidelines. This was achieved through consensus and expertise of a working party, and a clinical practice benchmark tool for patients with surgical wounds to standardize and ensure the implementation of evidence-based practice. Clinical practice benchmarking is "a process through which best practice is identified and continuous improvement pursued though comparison and sharing" (Department of Health (DoH), 1999). The work has led to the development of a standardized assessment and documentation tool, which the working party hopes will be used trust-wide. In addition, ward staff are encouraged to undertake the benchmark process as a method of identifying areas where the use of this tool would ensure that standards of care could be improved.

Implementing the Essence of Care benchmark for pressure ulcers.

Since The Essence of Care (Department of Health, 2001) was launched there have been many publications about the document and the process of benchmarking. This paper will focus specifically on the implementation of the benchmark for pressure ulcers.

Developing critical appraisal skills amongst staff in a hospital trust.

This project was designed to encourage health professionals to use available evidence in their practice by facilitating the development of critical appraisal skills and by making them aware of the practical benefits of using evidence in practice. A partn ership was developed to roll out a workshop programme to enable all members of the health care team within a variety of clinical areas locate, appraise and utilise appropriate evidence in their speciality and to provide the Hospital's professional develo pment team with the necessary experience to conduct subsequent programmes. Six different modules were provided including an introductory session and five other modules each covering a portion of the critical appraisal process. 45 staff including 19 nurse s participated and all were surveyed in the post workshop evaluations. Comments were very positive and the sessions appeared to have enthused the participants. There were some limitations to the project, including fluctuating attendance, but the main out come of this project is that the team realised that in order to be more effective in their approach it would be most appropriate to single out clinical specialities and design workshops entirely applicable to their interests.