The use of mHealth Apps by nurses in the management of chronic wounds: a scoping review protocol.

Vaughan, Grainne; Prizeman, Geraldine; Eustace-Cook, Jessica; Byrne, Gobnait

OBJECTIVE The objective of this scoping review is to explore the existing literature related to nurses' use of mHealth apps in the management of chronic wounds and chart if and how these apps are being evaluated. INTRODUCTION mHealth technology is increasingly used within health care facilities. There is now a plethora of wound care apps available to support nurses delivering wound care, promising many benefits, but little is known about their use. INCLUSION CRITERIA Studies involving nurses of all grades, in all clinical settings using mHealth apps in the care and management of chronic wounds will be included. Criteria used to evaluate these apps will also be included. The context will be all primary care, hospital, and community settings, which includes general practice, nurse-led clinics, public health services, nursing and care homes, and all hospital settings. There will be no limit on the geographical setting of the research. All studies and reports that focus on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods will be included as will text and opinion papers and published gray literature. METHODS An initial search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Embase will be undertaken to identify index terms. This will be followed by an analysis of the text words contained in the title. A search of commercial app stores (eg, Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store) will not be carried out. A data extraction form will be used and piloted on the first 10 articles. Results will be reported in tabular form and presented in a PRISMA flow diagram.