Enhancing Wound Care Assessment Knowledge in Acute Care Nurses through Microlearning: A Quality Improvement Project
Title
Enhancing Wound Care Assessment Knowledge in Acute Care Nurses through Microlearning: A Quality Improvement Project
Creator
Flynn, Melina Michelle
Description
Flynn, Melina Michelle
Pressure injuries and chronic wounds remain a significant concern in hospitalized patients, highlighting a knowledge gap among acute care nurses regarding wound assessment. Despite its clinical importance, wound care education is often insufficient in both prelicensure and on-the-job training. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate whether a brief microlearning intervention could improve wound assessment knowledge retention in acute care nurses at a large Midwestern hospital. It was hypothesized that nurses who received a targeted microlearning intervention would demonstrate improved post-test scores. A pre- and post-intervention design was implemented during a monthly wound/ostomy orientation workshop. Nurses (N=11) completed a five-question pre-test, reviewed a three-minute infographic, and completed a five-question post-test. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the impact of the intervention on knowledge retention. Post-test scores (M = 4.73, SD = 0.47) showed a small decline from pre-test scores (M = 4.82, SD = 0.40), t(11) = 0.43, p = .676 (two-tailed). While the intervention did not yield the expected statistically significant gain in test scores, the findings support the feasibility of microlearning in the acute care setting. This low-resource, scalable approach shows promise as a supplemental onboarding tool. Limitations included low statistical power, possible Hawthorne Effect, and limited comparison demographic data. Findings support further exploration of microlearning as an effective educational strategy for bedside nurses.
Pressure injuries and chronic wounds remain a significant concern in hospitalized patients, highlighting a knowledge gap among acute care nurses regarding wound assessment. Despite its clinical importance, wound care education is often insufficient in both prelicensure and on-the-job training. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate whether a brief microlearning intervention could improve wound assessment knowledge retention in acute care nurses at a large Midwestern hospital. It was hypothesized that nurses who received a targeted microlearning intervention would demonstrate improved post-test scores. A pre- and post-intervention design was implemented during a monthly wound/ostomy orientation workshop. Nurses (N=11) completed a five-question pre-test, reviewed a three-minute infographic, and completed a five-question post-test. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the impact of the intervention on knowledge retention. Post-test scores (M = 4.73, SD = 0.47) showed a small decline from pre-test scores (M = 4.82, SD = 0.40), t(11) = 0.43, p = .676 (two-tailed). While the intervention did not yield the expected statistically significant gain in test scores, the findings support the feasibility of microlearning in the acute care setting. This low-resource, scalable approach shows promise as a supplemental onboarding tool. Limitations included low statistical power, possible Hawthorne Effect, and limited comparison demographic data. Findings support further exploration of microlearning as an effective educational strategy for bedside nurses.
Date
2025
Publisher
Alverno College
Extent
115 pages
Language
English
Format
PDF
Type
Text
DNP Project
Subject
Nurses--Training of
Microlearning
Acute care nursing
Wound care education
Knowledge retention
Quality improvement
Rights
These materials may be used by individuals and libraries for personal use, research, teaching (including distribution to classes), or for any fair use as defined by U.S. Copyright Law.
Collection
Citation
Flynn, Melina Michelle, “Enhancing Wound Care Assessment Knowledge in Acute Care Nurses through Microlearning: A Quality Improvement Project,” Alverno College Library Digital Commons, accessed June 14, 2026, https://alverno.omeka.net/items/show/993.