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SIPS is a one-day prevalence study of pediatric skin injury. Data collection of this large scale using paper is cumbersome, time-consuming, and introduces opportunities for error in converting to electronic files. Therefore, we utilized a new web-based electronic data capture system (REDCap).
Significance:
Hospital-acquired skin injury (HASI) is often a serious, preventable problem that has been shown to increase cost and length of stay, as well as increase patient suffering. However, accurate, timely, and efficient documentation on a large scale has been challenging in a busy clinical setting.
Strategy and Implementation:
A one-day skin injury prevalence study was developed using REDCap, a web-based system specifically designed to support data capture for research studies. Experts in skin injury and database development constructed the questions, including the NDNQI pressure injury data points, to collect information about admission and current documentation as well as a real time skin assessment. We used REDCap's Smartlogic capabilities which allowed fewer questions requiring answers on non-complicated patients with more in-depth questioning for patients with risk factors or skin injury. Sixty nurses were trained to perform standardized skin assessments and use the REDCap web-based system. Inpatients that met inclusion criteria underwent an unbiased skin assessment to document the presence of HASI. Nurses worked in teams with a laptop to assess a total of 407 inpatients (97% of census) in a 12-hour shift to yield approximately 77,000 data points.
Evaluation:
Minor difficulties were experienced including dropped wireless connections, frequent laptop charging, and being unable to gather data on multiple patients concurrently. Overall, nurses were extremely satisfied with the web-based system and felt that it streamlined data collection.
Implications for Practice:
Frequent assessments for HASI and documentation of routine skin assessments are critical to understanding areas for improvement. This web-based system proved to be easy to design and implement, was user-friendly, and resulted in a ready to use database with minimal post-study processing needed.