Development of a tool to examine the effect of venous ulcers on patients’ quality of life

AIM: Nurses should be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of their practice. One method of measuring the effectiveness of nursing is to determine how nurses improve a patient's quality of life. The aim of this study is to develop a quality of life questionnaire that can be used to measure quality of life and outcome in patients with venous leg ulcers. METHODS: The project consists of three stages. The first used semi-structured interviews and focus groups to talk to patients and clinical staff about how venous ulcers affect patients. The second stage uses the data from the interviews and focus groups to design the questionnaire. The third stage involves validating the questionnaire. RESULTS: The project started in October 2005 and is due to finish in October 2008. The first stage of the project has been completed and used qualitative techniques to identify items to be included in the questionnaire. The questionnaire is now being developed. CONCLUSION: This project will result in the production of a quality of life questionnaire that can be used to measure quality of life and outcome in patients with venous leg ulcers.